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Leadership Articles
Adaptive Management
Larry Susskind Most environmental advocates and planning professionals know that every effort to manage natural resources or deal with threats to public health and environmental sustainability ought to proceed on a step-by-step basis. The systems involved are so complex that most efforts to "solve problems" are likely to have unanticipated results. Policy-makers act like they "understand the problem fully" and "know the best solution" when they pass legislation or adopt new regulations. Those of us most knowledgeable about the human-ecological systems involved, however, realize that the complexity of these systems makes it impossible to anticipate what's going to happen with much certainly.
Obama And The Politics Of Despair
Victoria Pynchon There's nothing like getting a new Harpers in the mail to upset my idealistic dreams of a new America flourishing under an Obama administration. Ouch! I read this magazine for the same reason I watch Fox News. To upset my own comfortable ideologies. That's the trouble with us liberals -- we're always fretting about being fair, when, according to Harper's Roger Hodge we're just a big bunch of conflict-avoidant pussies.
Russian Peacemaker Receives ACR International Leadership Award
In recognition of his leadership promoting creative processes that help people across the globe find peaceful solutions to conflicts, Shamil Fattakhov from Kazan, Russia, received the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) International Development Committee 2008 Outstanding Leadership Award.
Barack Obama: mediator to a divided nation
Diane J. Levin In the days after the towers fell on September 11, 2001, Americans everywhere came together to honor the dead and demand justice. The world stood beside us, sharing our shock and grief.
That unity proved short-lived. “You’re either with us or against us” became U.S. foreign policy, alienating long-time allies. Pursuit of war against Iraq tore Americans apart as the U.S. divided into two opposing camps, red state from blue. Earlier this year, conservative pundit Rush...
Thoughts on Mediation, Barack Obama, and Our Political Future
Kenneth Cloke The emergence of Barack Obama as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, and thus for the Presidency of the United States, presents us with unprecedented opportunities to influence global dispute resolution strategies and shift the prevailing paradigm of adversarial politics and diplomacy.
Mediation as Leadership in the Eye of the Storm
Victoria Pynchon This morning's guest blog -- Eye of the Storm Leadership: Mediation as Leadership and Leadership as Mediation -- is by Peter Adler, PhD, President of The Keystone Center and author of Eye-of-the-Storm leadership: 150 Ideas, Stories, Quotes, and Exercises on the Art and Politics of Managing Human Conflicts. Not long ago, Bob Benjamin and I offered a session at the ABA meeting in Seattle called “Beyond Orthodoxy: The Adaptive Mediator in a Perpetually Changing...
Ten Questions on Leadership for Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama
Peter Adler The U.S. presidential run-up is a time to think about politics, conflict and leadership. The collective challenges we face -- balancing freedom and security, maintaining economic and environmental sustainability, educating our young people, and assuring the health of those who cannot take care of themselves -- crisscross all sorts of historic borders, jurisdictions, and purviews. Making headway on these challenges will necessarily be a team sport.
How will Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama approach them? Imagine for a moment that we could engage all three candidates in an extended dialogue that goes beyond the sound bites and platform promises we have grown too accustomed to. Here is what I would ask:
Barack Obama’s Speech on Race
Barack Obama We find Barack Obama's speech on race to be a top flight example of the kind of mature consideration our most divisive issues deserve and need. We here present the text of Senator Barack Obama’s speech on race in Philadelphia.
Introduction to Eye of the Storm Leadership
Peter Adler In the vast galaxy of leadership practices, the 150 ideas that follow focus on making deals, brokering agreements, and managing the inevitable conflicts that occur in politically charged circumstances. They are about communication, negotiation, problem solving, and “guerilla peace making.” The premise is simple and was best stated by philosopher, psychologist, and educator John Dewey: “Conflict is the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and memory. It instigates to invention. It shocks us out of sheep-like passivity and sets us at noting and contriving."
New Book: Eye of the Storm Leadership
Colin Rule A few years ago, my friend Peter Adler hosted a meeting on Capitol Hill entitled "Political Courage and the Power of Bridge-Building" that involved some notable participants from the beltway scene. That conversation served as the seed that's grown into a new book and DVD series entitled "Eye of the Storm Leadership: 150 Ideas, Stories, Quotes, and Exercises on the Art and Politics of Managing Human Hurricanes."
Information on the book is available...
Peter Adler's 12 Questions to the Presidential Candidates
Gini Nelson Peter Adler is one of the conflict specialists I respect most. Earlier posts about his work are posted here and here. He has a new, particularly timely article at Mediate.com that bears reporting: 12 Questions for Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama on “Eye-of-the-storm” Leadership.
These are Peter’s questions to the Presidential Candidates:
What Is Your History of Bringing People Together?
Who Are Your Best Examples of Leaders Who Brought People Together?
On...
Is A Good Leader A Good Conflict Facilitator? Is A Good Conflict Facilitator A Good Leader?
Stephanie West Allen This month's Fast Company includes an article about four traits of leadership: curiosity, charisma, knowledge of neuroscience, and adaptability. Often these four traits are also embodied by someone skilled in resolving disputes.
James Kuczmarski, author of the article "The Journal-ist: In the Lead," reviewed four recent academic journals to create the quartet.
In "The Role of Curiosity in Global Managers’ Decision-Making" from The Journal of Leadership and...
One Trick Ponies? Political Leaders Should Be Adept In Many Negotiation Styles, Not Just One
Diane J. Levin One trick ponies? Political leaders should be adept in many negotiation styles, not just one
In this election year, everyone’s paying a lot of attention to the negotiation styles of the presidential contenders, as I pointed out in a recent post.
The most recent commentary comes from the blog Daily Kos (thanks to fellow blogger Victoria Pynchon for the link), which discusses the substantive differences in the negotiation styles of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton:
By engaging all ...
Obama’s Message - Mediation’s Political Triumph
James Melamed Presidential candidate Barack Obama's main political message represents the absorption of the mediation movement's essential themes at the highest level of national and global politics. This is an accomplishment that should not go unnoticed and one that all mediators, whatever our political leanings, should take great pride in. Obama's candidacy is mediative consciousness' coming out party. Could it be that our work is finally paying off, not only in terms of "miracles in the mediation room," but also in terms of truly improving the way we as humans operate on planet earth? I think so. We are experiencing a popular paradigm shift right before our eyes and mediators and mediative thought are largely responsible.
Wonks, Shamans, Warriors, Dealmakers & The Protean Leader
Robert Benjamin History may record the current presidential campaign as a turning point in how we think about leadership, choose a leader, and approach complex issues and difficult conflicts in the Twenty-First Century. The candidates present an interesting juxtaposition of leadership styles that is seldom so apparent. John McCain is the classic warrior, Hillary Clinton is the pragmatic, technical, problem-solving wonk, and Barack Obama has cornered the role of the moral/inspirational shaman.
Leadership and Negotiation: Interview with Michael Watkins
Joshua N. Weiss In this podcast Josh talks with Professor Michael Watkins about his book "Shaping the Game: The New Leader's Guide to Effective Negotiating." The book focuses on the nexus between leadership and negotiation and how negotiation has become a central skill for leaders in today's world.
MP3 File
Obama: Reflections Of A Hard Core Negotiator
Robert Benjamin On Thursday evening, January 3rd, 2008, I watched Barack Obama appear to channel Dr. Martin Luther King and President John F. Kennedy as he gave his ‘audacity of hope’ speech to his supporters after winning the Iowa Caucus. Even someone as constitutionally pessimistic as I am was moved; I wanted to take a chance and believe in the future of this country---again.
What Would Gandhi Do?
Eileen Barker While the rewards are great, working as a mediator can be very challenging. We are called upon to help people navigate some of life’s most difficult problems. I sometimes think: If I could seek guidance from any wise person, past or present, who would it be? My thoughts sometimes turn to great political leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, Jr., or noble spiritual beings such as Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama. However, I invariably select Mohandas Gandhi, a man who was a master of both the political and spiritual realms, and who inspired each of these other individuals.
Becoming a Conflict Competent Leader
Craig Runde, Tim Flanagan Becoming a Conflict Competent Leader (Jossey-Bass) is a new book from Craig Runde and Tim Flanagan that serves as a call to action to leaders to become champions of conflict competence in their organizations. Runde and Flanagan work at the Leadership Development Institute at Eckerd College, a network associate of the Center for Creative Leadership. Based on their experience of working with leaders from corporate, government, and non-profit organizations, they became convinced that organizations would not get better at dealing with conflict unless leaders took a more active role by improving their personal conflict skills and encouraging others in their organization to do so as well. This excerpt is from the book's preface.
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