When I was a teenager in the late 90s, I'd lie in bed with the lights off, radio on low, listening to Loveline. Dr. Drew and Adam Carolla would take calls from people dealing with relationship problems, family conflicts, and questions they were too embarrassed to ask anyone else.

I was a nerdy, quiet introvert, and I wasn't dealing with most of what the callers talked about. But I listened anyway because it was honest, frank, and supportive without sugarcoating reality. It helped me understand what my friends might be going through, and occasionally it helped me to help them.

In a weird way, even though I wasn't calling in, it made me feel less alone.

I've been thinking about Loveline a lot lately because I'm launching a podcast, and that's the feeling I want to create.

But first, let me back up and tell you why.

This blog post was originally a newsletter that was sent last Friday.

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I started Fieldway because I care deeply about helping leaders become better at the human side of leadership, which ultimately means their teams get to have better work lives. I love teaching strategy development, vision and mission work, and measuring success in meaningful ways. I totally geek out on that stuff.

But over the last several months, as I've talked with leaders and team members across different companies, I've noticed two things:

First, I also genuinely love talking with people about navigating conflict and helping them work through it. This isn't new—I took extra post-grad courses in conflict and dispute resolution while getting my master's degree because I found it fascinating. But I'd been treating it as one tool in the toolkit rather than the foundation everything else builds on.

Second, conflict is a first-order priority. We have to deal with it before we can deal with anything else. And once we deal with it well, everything else becomes easier.

When I wroteLeading Product Teams, conflict resolution was chapter 6 of 8. I treated it like just another leadership skill to develop alongside everything else. But what I'm realizing now is that it should be front and center, because until people learn to work better together, communicate effectively, and set healthy boundaries so conflicts don't trigger anxiety and unhealthy reactions, they can't do the strategic work they need to do.

I'll still do product management consulting. I'll still help people navigate grief. I'll still coach executives on strategy. But I'm turning up the volume on helping people with conflict because that's where people actually get stuck.

So here's what I'm building:

Navigating Conflict in Product Teamslaunches December 1st. This podcast will feature short episodes—3 to 7 minutes—where I walk through actual conflicts I've encountered in product teams and explain how I navigated them. I use the word "navigated" because sometimes I had to move forward without resolution, which is the reality of working with humans.

You can also submit your own conflicts, and I'll talk through how I'd approach them. I keep submissions anonymous—no company names—and you can choose to have your name anonymized, too, so there's no risk to your professional reputation.

When I work through your situation, someone else listening may recognize themselves in your story. They'll realize they're not the only ones struggling with that impossible stakeholder or that team dynamic that makes them dread Monday mornings. That's the Loveline effect: you submit your question, and suddenly dozens or hundreds of people feel a little less alone in what they're facing.

I'm planning this as a two-month test; I have 20 episodes outlined so far, with 20 more to outline before launch. The format might evolve after that (maybe some longer episodes, maybe some guests), but I want these first two months to be tight, valuable, and consistently helpful.

I'll publish four to five episodes per week, Monday through Thursday (or Friday), and they'll be available on Spotify, Apple, and everywhere else podcasts live.

This newsletter will continue to come out every Friday with the frameworks and teaching behind the case studies. The podcast is the story and the immediate guidance. The newsletter is the deeper method you can learn and practice.

Here's what I need from you: Reply and tell me about a conflict you're navigating right now.Or reply and tell me if this focus feels right to you. I want to know if this format—short case studies plus weekly teaching—is actually what would help you.

Because that Loveline feeling I mentioned? The honest, frank, supportive approach that makes you feel seen and less alone? That's what I'm aiming for. Not some polished, corporate leadership development program, just honest conversations about the hard stuff we all face when we work with other humans.

You can submit conflicts at fieldway.org/podcast or reply to this email.

See you Monday, December 1st.

Cheers,

Matthew Stublefield