Leadership Section
Leadership Articles
A Case of Bad Bargaining Practices
The shutdown over a wall on the southern border shows how the political parties have ignored and violated several tenets of bargaining essential to reach an agreement.
Effective Conflict Management versus a Quick “Fix”
Sometime potential individual clients or institutions and organizations who want to hire me are looking for a quick fix for their longstanding conflict management problems.
New Mediator Self-Reflection Tool
Even though mediators work very closely with people when we mediate, typically no one else in the room shares our mediator perspective.
New Mediate.com Interview Series: "The Place of Mediation"
Mediate.com is proud to announce our new video Interview Series: “The Place of Mediation In Our Society, Culture, Media and Politics.”
7 Easy Tips for Better Communication
How many times have you left a conversation with a loved one feeling frustrated; like they didn’t listen to a single thing you said?
Peacemaking: The Fulfillment of the Legal Profession
"If you want to make peace with your enemy then work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner." ~ Nelson Mandela
Beyond Solutions
Mediation, like other forums where leadership is called for, can be a hard business, not for the faint of heart. On the other hand, every once in a great while, something magical, unplanned, and unexpected happens and the room is suddenly filled with hope and light.
Mediation Dance-Writing
Sometime between 480 and 221 BC during China’s Warring States Period, a general named Wu wrote a short and now widely read treatise on how to win a big fight. The highest excellence, he said, is the “sheathed sword,” achieving your goal without fighting.
Mediator Engagement in Politics – and other things we care about
In his thought-provoking new book, Politics, Dialogue and the Evolution of Democracy the legendary Ken Cloke reflects on an exchange between two distinguished American authors, Lawrence Susskind and Bernie Mayer, reflected upon here.
Dishonesty
I’d wager we’ve all had a friend or family member share one of their new creations with us (maybe a poem, or an article, or a intending-to-be-funny youtube video) and ask, excitedly, “What do you think?”
Heartbroken in Pittsburgh
I thought that teaching the Kavanaugh hearings in a careful and respectful manner a few weeks ago would be the biggest teaching challenge of the semester. I was wrong.
Satisfying Our Clients’ Emotional Due Process Needs
Emotional due process. What is that, exactly?
Bringing Down a Giraffe
Each of the described four impulses gives rise to tensions in negotiation: the need to compete and claim, the impulse to cooperate and find common ground, the drive for pragmatic and technically competent solutions, and the push for a moral basis in solution-making.
Empathy
I travel all the time for my job--and part of the traveling experience is vulnerability.
Jim Melamed Selected For First APFM Outstanding Mediator Award
After a nominations process open to all Academy of Professional Family Mediators (APFM) members, Jim Melamed, Mediate.com CEO, was selected to receive APFM's first "Outstanding Professional Family Mediator Award." The award was presented to Jim at the recent 2018 APFM Conference in San Diego.
Weapons and Sports Agents
Life imitates art, art imitates life, and both reveal deeper patterns.
Like the Fireflies Generating Light
It is currently common to use expressions such as "polarization" or "crack" to describe the attitudes with which the inhabitants, politicians and governments in different countries raise or debate their problems.
Family Mediation and Domestic Abuse
Mediation in Worcester, Gloucester and the surrounding areas is increasingly the default option when it comes to family dispute resolution.
Power, Impartiality, and Timing: Third Party Mediation in the Middle East
There has been upsurge literature on third party intervention in recent years, and still a significant gap in the field of mediation.
Building Coalitions and Story Telling
In order to be more effective in mediation, the story of the case must be told just like the unfolding of a movie or book. Like any story, there is a common structure that has a beginning, middle and end and is broken down into three acts.
Mediation vs. Arbitration
This article directs the special advantages of mediation for resolving disputes. It outlines the specific procedure for mediation that optimizes these advantages over arbitration.
Justice
As a non-lawyer who teaches in law schools, I have been brought into the “justice” conversation many times. I am asked: How can you be sure your online systems will deliver justice?
Stop Giving Others Insult Power
Do you know people who get upset and insulted easily?
How Avoidance Can Help You with Workplace Conflict
It sounds counter intuitive, but Inaction or avoidance can be a viable way of dealing with workplace conflict.
Dissing of Civil Discourse pt. 3
Interestingly, since beginning of this series of posts several months back, the topic of seeking greater respect and civility in our political and social interactions has ratcheted up significantly, even becoming mainstream!