I recently had an interesting conversation with someone who started out by describing their boss as a “narcissistic personality” and who was looking for some advice about how to get them to change their behaviours towards staff. Work with behaviours, not labels The first step is to emphasize the importance of avoiding labelling the boss […]
When the Boss Is Exhibiting Challenging Behaviours Read More »
In the world of mediation, professionals frequently encounter complex ethical dilemmas that require careful consideration and judgment. Recently, a discussion among mediators explored such challenges in depth, providing valuable insights into the ethical intricacies of the profession. This blog post delves into the key themes discussed, focusing on the delicate balance mediators must maintain between
Navigating Ethical Dilemmas in Mediation: Insights from Practitioners Read More »
Coleman argues that there are three different criteria for how we might adapt our interpersonal conflict strategies: relational importance, goal type, power differences. These different criteria lead to seven basic types of interpersonal situations. These include: where the conflict is of low importance (independence), compassionate responsibility (high power, cooperative goals), partnership (equal power, cooperative), cooperative
REAL WORLD INSIGHTS: How we adapt our interpersonal conflict strategies Read More »
Peter Coleman’s research has identified the four most challenging conditions or “derailers” of mediation as: High intensity conflict: higher levels of destructiveness, emotionality, and intransigence; High degrees of constraints or limitations on the mediation: including legal and time constraints and constituent pressure; Highly competitive relationships between the disputants; and The covert nature of the issues
REAL WORLD INSIGHTS: Peter Coleman’s “Adaptive Mediation” Read More »
Peter Coleman is one of the most prolific academics in the field of conflict resolution. He has published many articles and has even developed apps to support people to engage more effectively in conflict. This article is a kind of compilation of his work, with links to many other resources. There is so much in
REAL WORLD INSIGHTS: Conflict Intelligence Read More »
This article was published by Andrew B. Mamo in the 2023 issue of the Mississippi Law Journal. It’s LONG – 64 pages – so I’m going to give you an overview of the main points and some questions to think about. In this article, Mamo questions what self-determination means and why it is considered important
Re-thinking self-determination in mediation Read More »
Conflict coaching (also called conflict management coaching) is: A one-on-one process involving someone trained as a coach AND trained in conflict dynamics; and a client who wishes to manage conflict more effectively (now or in the future), who are in a specific kind of (coaching) relationship aimed at changing the client’s mindset about conflict (and
What is conflict coaching? Read More »
There has been a renewed interest in the intervention of reality testing in mediation in Australia with the release in December 2022 of research conducted by Lola Akin Ojelabi and Alysoun Boyle, funded by the Mediator Standards Board of Australia. The authors note at the start of the report that the phrase used in the
Can we take the “reality” out of reality testing? Read More »
I’m not a skilled jazz musician. In fact, I played the violin for many years and was part of a youth orchestra – there was no room for improvisation in that setting! However, I have always loved jazz. Jazz is a great metaphor for constructive approaches to conflict. There is also so much we can learn from the
Jazz and conflict resolution Read More »
HISTORY OF THE TERM EMPATHY German philosopher Theodor Lipps first introduced the term Einfuhlung (empathy) around 1903 to describe how we should fully appreciate a work of art. His idea was that we should project ourselves into the work and experience it from within, rather than imposing our own frame of reference to interpret the
