Polarization is not just a problem for Congress and our political system, it's also taking

a toll in the workplace. Business and non-profit leaders are worried. Employees are falling

out with each other of a politics, controversial Supreme Court decisions, and divisive issues

in the culture wars. Colleagues who used to be friendly now barely nod in the corridor.

Organizations are in a tough spot, some of them talking politics at the office,

or they've taken a public stand on an issue of the day in an effort to do the right thing.

But that can end up pleasing some employees and alienating others.

Our guest today tells leaders, edicts like this just won't help, but more thoughtful approaches can.

This is Let's Find Common Ground. I'm Richard Davies.

And I'm Ashley Melmteight. In this our second episode on Polarization in Business, we hear

from Simon Greer. He's the founder of Bridging the Gap, a group that helps college students develop

the skills to communicate well across differences, and he consults with organizations who face these

same challenges among their workforce. But Simon didn't start out as a common grounder. In fact,

he used to stoke division for a living. In this interview, Simon tells the stories from his work

with employers and employees, and explains the very personal reason for his belief in the humanity

of the other person. Simon Greer, welcome to Let's Find Common Ground. Thanks so much for having me.

So we know that there's polarization within the workforce,

had a lot of businesses and nonprofits, and Rich and I have both heard a story about two long time

colleagues whose friendship essentially tanked after the supreme court decision on abortion

a few months ago. Has it become harder recently for co-workers with different political views

to work together and collaborate together? I think the short answer is it is harder. I think that's

true, but to unpack it a little, the expectation that you would have a quote, friendship at work,

...