Search Mediators Near You:

Seek First To Understand

Have a read of of the Werner Institute’s latest blog post. It is by MS Candidate, Firas Alsalih. He shares his reflections on his first place finish the INADR.org mediation contest and some tips for mediators based on his experience.

I am glad to see rapport is mentioned and even happier to hear his professor at the Werner Institute, John Ford, teaches it, and the importance of building it, in his course.

Here’s a snippet:

We often talk about “intuitive” abilities, and I even recall writing once in one of our online posts for the MS NDR program at Creighton, that the more you learn, the better stocked your “intuitive arsenal” is. I thus found myself applying skills that felt completely intuitive, although they are ones I only learned over the past 18 months, and were far from intuitive prior to entering the program.

…I also learned that as a general rule, the greatest contribution a mediator can make in resolving conflict is helping parties build rapport (thank you John Ford), and creating a safe, open and constructive environment where dialogue can take place, and where genuine rapport can indeed be built.

Read the entire post at the Werner Institute Blog [here].

                        author

Jeff Thompson

Jeff Thompson, Ph.D., is a professor at Lipscomb University, researcher, mediator, and trainer. He is also involved in crisis and hostage negotiation as well as a law enforcement detective. His research includes law enforcement crisis and hostage negotiation in terrorist incidents. He received his doctorate from Griffith University Law School… MORE >

Featured Mediators

ad
View all

Read these next

Category

What Podcasts Can Teach Us about Difficult Conversations

Can podcasts teach us how to have better difficult conversations? Recently, I was a guest on Dr. Darian Parker’s podcast, as part of pre-publicity for my forthcoming memoir, and it...

By Lorraine Segal
Category

From The Horses Mouth: On The Nature Of Equine And Human Negotiations

This is a version of an article edited for publication in the ACR Family Section’s Mediation News Newsletter, due to be published in Fall, 2004Fair warning: if you are among...

By Robert Benjamin
Category

ADR is on the Rise in Employment Cases

JAMS ADR Blog by Chris PooleWhile there is a long history of utilizing arbitration in the labor union context, the majority of employment disputes have historically been litigated in federal...

By Jeffrey Grubman

Find a Mediator