The George Mitchell Syndrome: When Is A Mediator A Mediator?

Is training required to become a good mediator? Or is it hands-on experience in the trenches of conflict? Do formal credentials matter? Is mediation even a skill that can be learned? All of the above? None of the above?

Take the example of former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell. Certainly, few would dispute that Mitchell functioned as a skilled and effective mediator as he spent years moving warring parties in Northern Ireland toward the Good Friday Agreement reached last April.

"In a conflict situation like that one, the parties are looking for someone with some skill in negotiations, but not necessarily someone with formal training as a mediator," Mitchell told CONSENSUS after a recent speech at Tufts University. "No one ever asked me to submit a resume in connection with this."

"I do think that formal education is appropriate, but there is required some subjective sense of judgment. You have to look for the proper background and training to fit the appropriate circumstances," said Mitchell, a senator from Maine for 14 years.

"In my case, my political experience, particularly my six years as majority leader, were extremely helpful because the negotiators in this (Irish peace) process were politicians. I understood the circumstances in which they existed and operated. I had been in similar circumstances myself."

Max Bazerman, a professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School and visiting faculty member at Harvard Business School, said classroom and experience-based training both have their roles.

"This issue of intuitive versus training ability is a silly debate," said Bazerman, whose expertise is in negotiations and decision-making. "It's not one or the other - it's additive. Whether or not you are a star intuitively, everyone can gain both by learning to think more systematically (in a classroom context) as well as from the vicarious experience of experts."

For example, Mitchell made one procedural move that turned out to be a positive turning point - though it could have backfired. With the agreement of the participants in the Irish peace talks, he set a firm deadline. "That was widely regarded as a crucial decision in the process," Mitchell said.

But such experiences and lesson from people like Mitchell don't necessarily make it into the field's knowledge base, said Simmons College Graduate School of Management Professor Deborah Kolb.

"The problem of from the field perspective is that there are lots of people doing mediation we know nothing about," said Kolb, whose book, When Talk Works, profiles the techniques and styles of different kinds of mediators. "There are tons of incompetents running around, but then there are people with a great deal of experience in building consensus like Mitchell. He's highly visible and articulate, so he will be interviewed and people can learn how he goes about what he does. But there are lots of people doing mediation we know nothing about who may be doing things we could learn from - if we knew about it."

Kolb is wary of the level of training of some people who call themselves mediators.

"Just taking a one-week training course doesn't necessarily prepare you to be a mediator," she said. "There's lots of disservice to the field being done. Some of these disputes are very complicated and it's not clear the people we send out have the skills to (handle them)."

Perhaps, Kolb said, there should be more apprenticeships within the dispute resolution field. "That's the way labor mediators work," she said. "You need to think about lots of educational models."

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LORANE PEART,   JAMAICA	03/23/04
I AGREE THAT FORMAL TRAINING TO BE A MEDIATOR IS NEEDED, REASON BEING - SOME PEOPLE TENDS TO MIX COUNSELLING WITH MEDIATION, BEFORE MY TRAINING I THOUGHT THEY WERE ONE AND THE SAME, AFTER TRAINING MY VIEWS HAVE CHANGED. A MEDIATOR THAT HAS BEEN FORMALLY TRAINED IS MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE. Add New Comment

J.E.  ,   Ft. Lauderdale Fl	07/07/00
When a Mediator is a Mediator
I agree with the article that Mediators should have formal training, in the field, beyond the weekend requirements to become a Court Certified Mediator as is required in state of Florida. There are essential elements that a Mediator needs to acquire before going into the field naming only a few: objectivity, neutrality, listening skills, reframing skills, and creativity skills. Jonathan Evans Graduate Student at Nova Southeastern University in Dispute Resolution. Add New Comment

Pat ,   North Ridgeville Oh	07/04/00
When is a mediator a mediator?
My own comment is that a mediator is a mediator when personalities are set aside and issues are the focus. When a level playing field is established and the participants (here is where my own personal belief enters)desire closure and have an inner belief that it can be accomplished through the leadership of someone who can take them through the maze of emotions and personalities to regain a view of destination. All roads may lead to Rome but some are smoother than others. Add New Comment

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