Workplace Violence Problem Solver

I’m proud to be a partner at Vistelar, a conflict management consulting and training institute. In this role, I develop business partnerships while leading our team in sales.Vistelar is focused on addressing the entire spectrum of human conflict at the point of impact — from before an interaction begins through to the consequences of how an interaction is managed.The company offers a wide range of training programs that address how to:* Provide better customer service* Predict, prevent and mitigate conflict* Avert verbal and physical attacks* De-escalate resistance, anger, and abuse* Control crisis and aggression* Effectively manage physical violenceThe results at the organizational level are:* With “customers””- Higher levels of customer satisfaction- Reduced complaints, liabilities and injuries- Not having a damaging video show up on YouTube or the evening news- Protected reputation, culture and business continuity* With organizational teams- Improved team performance (e.g., innovation, morale, productivity), morale and safety- Less compassion fatigue, absenteeism and turnover- Decreased stress levels, lateral violence and bullying- Reduced harm from emotional and physical violenceVistelar trains “contact professionals” who directly interact with the general public or an organization’s clients, organizational teams who want to improve their performance by better managing conflict, and individuals who must deal with conflict in their everyday lives.Vistelar’s methodologies have been proven in real-world environments for over thirty years and are the subject of several books and training manuals in Vistelar’s Confidence In Conflict and Conflict Management series.To learn more about Vistelar’s conflict management training, feel free to contact me at name@vistelartrainer.com or your-phone-number — or by sending me a LinkedIn message.

I am the Executive Vice President of Sales & Community Relations for Verbal Defense & Influence. Verbal Defense & Influence is a member of the Vistelar, global training, speaking and consulting organization focused on addressing the spectrum of human conflict - from interpersonal discord, verbal abuse and bullying - to crisis communications, assault and physical violence.I work with the clients to develop customized training programs to fit their needs. I have experience in coordinating trainings for law enforcement, corrections, casino security, corporate, transit, TSA, municipalities, contact professionals (energy companies), hospitals and schools. I also assist in generating marketing material for Verbal Defense & Influence.Vistelar Group was founded with two goals in mind: 1) to expand its training to all markets where conflict is prevalent - within business, healthcare, education, public safety and government; and 2) to extend its breadth of conflict management expertise.Our emotionally-safe performance-driven instruction, which improves retention of the taught material but, more importantly, enhances the student's ability to actually perform the learned skills in their work and personal lives.Our training is valuable because communicating in the midst of stress is inescapable and, when not handled well, can have disastrous results.In addition, I help with our anti-bullying campaign and all training related to youth. We recently started a "Kickerstarter" campaign with former Packer, Gilbert Brown. http://vistelar.com/kickstarter/For more information on VDI training courses and to schedule a training, visit my website at wsingleton.vistelar.com.I am also available to speak on a variety of topics including: youth, bullying, community relations, police-youth relations, police-youth communication, Verbal Defense & Influence at seminars and events. Professional Speaker on youth topics. Consultant. Trainer. Problem-solver.

I was with the Milwaukee Police Department for approximately 13 years. My last position was a police officer in our Office of Community Outreach & Education unit.There I helped oversee a grass roots youth prevention program, Students Talking it Over with Police (STOP program). The purpose of the STOP program is to address the relationship that exists between law enforcement and youth with the chances of decreasing an initial volatile interaction.The program is targeted for young leaders age 12-17. This is an evidence based curriculum (thanks to our partners University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Alverno College and Dr. Tina Freiburger and Dr. Kimberly Hassell). The curriculum is one hour per day, one day a week for 7 weeks.To date we have graduated over 600 students from the STOP program. We are currently in over 30 schools in the City of Milwaukee. The STOP program won the 2011 IACP Sprint research award.Part of the curriculum is designed to help students with conflict. Conflict resolution skills are provided and students learn these valuable skills while practicing them. Understanding anger guards, word deflectors and options are some of the skills that students are taught during this section.In addition, to my role with the STOP program I am also a certified Professional Communications trainer and Defense And Arrest Tactics trainer for the State of Wisconsin. In pro-comm, officers are also taught the valuable skills of Verbal Defense & Influence. Verbal Defense & Influence has been taught to hundreds of thousands of police officers throughout the world. Verbal Defense & Influence is a member of the Vistelar Group, a global training, speaking and consulting organization focused on addressing the spectrum of human conflict - from interpersonal discord, verbal abuse and bullying - to crisis communications, assault and physical violence.Crisis Intervention officer - community relations - STOP Back to School Bash. www.stopbash.com

The Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) is focused on reducing youth violence in Milwaukee neighborhoods. The work of the VPI is completed by community and academic partners, who together are implementing the initiative based on best-practice and evidence-based models. The approach of the VPI includes positive youth and family development programming aimed at preventing violence before it occurs, as well as building greater capacity throughout the community to prevent future violence.Project Goals: In their first year, Ripple Effect Milwaukee (REM) will utilize their collective experience and expertise to develop a comprehensive peace building curriculum that will be implemented in five Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee (BGCGM) sites and the St. Charles FOCUS program. This curriculum features peer-training-peer components and will expand to five additional BGCGM sites in the second and third years of funding, for a total of fifteen clubs to deliver the program. Additionally, REM will create youth-led leadership councils and theatrical productions that actively engage the community to reduce and prevent violence.Community Partners: Primary Community Partner: Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee Additional community partner organization names:• Casa Romero Renewal Center, Inc.• Marquette University Center for Peacemaking (CfP)• Milwaukee Public Theatre• St. Charles Youth & Family Services, Inc.• Vistelar, LLCVerbal Defense & Influence is prevalent in our work with Ripple Effect. Verbal Defense & Influence is a member of Vistelar Group is a global speaking and training organization focused on addressing the spectrum of human conflict – from interpersonal discord, verbal abuse and bullying – to crisis communications, assault and physical violence.Bullying — whether verbal or physical — hurts a great deal. It wounds self-esteem and, if unaddressed, can escalate to where it results in severe emotional and physical injury.

I sucessfully raised $5000 in consecutive years for Girls on the Run (local chapter) by holding a Brewer tailgate event. I coordinated, conducted sales, marketing and promoted the event.I successfully raised $5000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation by holding a Brewer tailgate event. I coordinated, conducted sales, marketing and promoted the event.

Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to educating students in grades K-12 about entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs.Our programs help prepare young people for the real world by showing them how to generate wealth and effectively manage it, how to create jobs which make their communities more robust, and how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace. Students put these lessons into action and learn the value of contributing to their communities.JA's unique approach allows volunteers from the community to deliver our curriculum while sharing their experiences with students. Embodying the heart of JA, our classroom volunteers transform the key concepts of our lessons into a message that inspires and empowers students to believe in themselves, showing them they can make a difference in the world.During these sessions, I gradually introduced Verbal Defense & Influence skills to the students. Empathy, beyond active listening and the universal greeting are all important communication skills that students acquired.

Verbal Defense & Influence: conflict resolution via effective communication in the midst of stressConsider the complexity of interacting with another person:•You must function as both the giver and receiver of information•Interactions encompass verbal, written and physical messages•There’s a wide range of purposes (e.g., info-sharing/gathering, compliance, relationship building, enforcement)•Expectations differ depending on the nature of the interaction (e.g., work-related, personal, private, public)•Your familiarity with the person ranges from close family member to total stranger•You must deal with disparities of race, culture, gender, religion and age•Interactions occur in a range of locations (at work, at home, at the mall, etc.)Despite this complexity, most of the time people are functional communicators.The problem occurs when stress is present during communications – a widespread and inescapable occurrence — which can lead to emotional and physical violence — which requires conflict resolution and effective communication skills.There are four universal triggers to such conflict:•Personal Stress (such as relationship difficulties, financial problems, work demands, physical threats, job insecurity), which heightens the risk of conflict•Indignity (treating others badly with insults, put-downs and humiliation) which can provoke retaliation•Bystander Inaction (by peers or persons of authority) which leaves victims of violence to fend for themselves•Victim Mindset (perceived as less-than by others), which can result in vulnerability to coming the target of violence by bullies.Verbal Defense & Influence teaches people conflict resolution and effective communications skills, including how to communicate effectively in the midst of stress.The goal of this training is to prevent conflict and retaliation from happening and, when that’s not possible, to enable de-escalation of the situation and a reduced risk of emotional and physical violence.

More than 70% of our children waiting for a Big are boys, but only 3 out of every 10 inquiries to volunteer come from men. Research shows that having the positive influence of a Big Brother makes a real difference in a boy's life. So join the hundreds of thousands of volunteers that give a young person someone to look up to. And learn why so many are now saying, “I get back so much more than I give.”Not only was I a Big Brother for over 2 years, but I currently provide numerous programming to Big Brother Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee.By using Verbal Defense & Influence, I have created an anti-bullying program that I have presented to over 100 participants at BBBS.Bullying — whether verbal or physical — hurts a great deal. It wounds self-esteem and, if unaddressed, can escalate to where it results in severe emotional and physical injury.No child deserves this.But, as we’ve learned over the last few years, a large percentage of our children are affected by bullying and the problem is getting worse. This increased awareness about the prevalence and impact of bullying is an important step in addressing this devastating problem — but now we need solutions.That’s what Manage Bullying is all about.We all deserve to be treated according to these principles — especially our children — and that’s the goal of Manage Bullying.We hope you take the time to learn about our efforts.http://managebullying.com/

Co-coached a 6th grade boys basketball traveling team that went 41-5. Developed 2 Division I athletes from this team.