Beyond Logic: Making Sense of Conflict

Beyond Logic: Making Sense of Conflict

Date and Time

Thursday Mar 19, 2026
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM CDT

Location

Zoom

Fees/Admission

Free

Website

SCORE Registration

Contact Information

Lauren Barker
Send Email

TODO

Description

The 21st century has long been hailed as the era of the algorithm. We’ve optimized our supply chains, automated our marketing, and scaled our reach through technical prowess. Yet as AI accelerates decision-making and execution, one variable is becoming more visible, not less: trust.

 

As John Naisbitt famously observed:

"The most exciting breakthroughs of the 21st century will not occur because of technology, but because of an expanding concept of what it means to be human."

 

For the modern entrepreneur, this "expanding concept" is where the next competitive advantage lies. We’ve been taught to approach business as a matter of strategy, analyzing variables, weighing risks, and choosing the most logical path forward. But when trust erodes in a high-stakes partnership, a talented team stagnates, or a promising negotiation hits a brick wall, logic is rarely the missing piece.

 

In this session, you will learn to recognize conflict, understand the emotions driving it, clarify your boundaries, and respond in ways that restore trust and move conversations forward.

Featured Guest Speaker

Katie Kolon, Mutual Ground Strategies

Katie Kolon helps business owners and leaders navigate conflict before it derails relationships, stalls decisions, or quietly undermines trust and momentum.

 

She is the founder of Mutual Ground Strategies, where she works with small business owners, founders, partners, and teams facing tension, avoided conversations, and relationship strain that makes leadership harder than it needs to be. Her work includes conflict resolution coaching, communication and de-escalation training, and facilitated conversations that help people address challenges directly and move forward with greater clarity.

 

Katie is a certified mediator and mediation coach and a former employment law attorney. She has spent more than a decade volunteering as a mediator, trainer, and mentor, supporting people in high-stakes conversations where emotions, values, and business realities collide. Her approach is facilitative rather than directive. She does not tell people what to do or impose solutions. Instead, she helps them surface what really matters so they can make thoughtful, durable decisions themselves.

 

Earlier in her career, Katie worked in cybersecurity and customer success and has held roles across nonprofit, government, education, and research settings. That range of experience informs her work with entrepreneurs and small business leaders navigating growth, uncertainty, and complex human dynamics.

 

Stacie Porosky, Score Event Committee, Mentor, Host

Stacie Porosky is a seasoned business leader in the Greater Chicago Area who specializes in providing strategic guidance to Fortune 100 organizations, focusing on growth, value, and customer-centric initiatives. She currently leads Training Strategy and Implementation at Mosaic North America, where she spearheads impactful training programs and drives retail excellence for Google Stores.

 

Outside of her corporate roles, Stacie gives back to the local business community as a mentor and an executive board member on the event committee for the SCORE Chicago Chapter.

 

Stacie's extensive practical experience is backed by a strong academic foundation in adult learning and motivational theories. She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Human Resources Management from The University of Arizona Global Campus, a Master of Arts (MA) in Organizational Behavior Studies from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from Kutztown University.


 

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