A quote on Friday from a participant in the NFL court-ordered mediation process in Minneapolis, Minnesota reminded me of a point I was made on Thursday in a University of New Haven classroom in Connecticut. According to today’s New York Times, Hall of Famer Carl Eller, who is representing retired NFL players in the dispute, […]
Read more...People thinking and talking about conflict often address the idea of the dynamics of a group that is in internal conflict. How these people have interacted in the past and their assumed roles within the group — whether a family, a business, or some other type of group — both have a profound impact on […]
Read more...Each year, April 2 is recognized as Reconciliation Day. The idea was launched by Ann Landers, the late advice columnist, who saw that mending fences — even if those fences had been broken for a long time — could be a good thing for those involved. Even a long-standing conflict can be resolved, directly or […]
Read more...When I give public talks on conflict and mediation, I often begin with some tips about avoiding conflicts in the first place. As you might imagine, the tips include ideas about effective communication and understanding the perspectives of other people. I also discuss the idea that conflicts are a part of life — they can’t […]
Read more...Last Monday, I had the pleasure of being an invited call-in guest on eastern Connecticut’s “Monday Night Sports Talk”, hosted by Tony D’Angelo and Bob Lazzari. Tony and Bob asked me to share my conflict resolution perspective on various sports items in the news. At the outset, Bob asked me to explain the difference among […]
Read more...Last week, the New York Times ran an op-ed piece by retired Marine general Anthony Zinni titled “Peace-Building That Pays Off.” I think that we can agree that a Marine general is not someone afraid of conflict or of the use of force. So, his perspective on the great work of the United States Institute […]
Read more...If you are a Connecticut mediator, I hope that you will consider joining, rejoining, or renewing your membership in the New England Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution (NE-ACR). I was elected to the NE-ACR Board last year and serve on the Finance and Nominating Committees. The Nominating Committee is currently focused on nominations […]
Read more...Last time I wrote about the new TV show “Fairly Legal” inaccurately portraying mediators (or at least, this particular star of the only TV show about mediation to date) as hating lawyers and the law. The wildly atypical glamor of this mediator’s life we can chalk up to TV, but this misconception about mediation and […]
Read more...The new TV show “Fairly Legal” features a young woman mediator working in the San Francisco law firm that is being manged by her stepmother, in the wake of her father’s death. It’s TV, so beautiful locations, offices, and people are no surprise. But I do take issue with the suggestion that the main character, […]
Read more...I was surprised and delighted that the headline of my most recent blog post, The State of Connecticut Estate Planning, was “grabbed” by a Forbes.com contributor. Check out Hani Sarji’s blog on estate planning issues and my headline on February 13 : http://blogs.forbes.com/hanisarji/headline-grabs/. The blog, “Estate of Confusion”, captures blog posts that have covered estate […]
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