The August 2015 edition of the California Lawyer contains an article entitled Feelings in the Fray for which I was interviewed. In it, the author Susan Kostel discusses how emotions very much play a critical rule in negotiations and in resolving disputes. Understanding a bit of neuroscience goes a long way to helping parties resolve [Read More]
Last week, I wrote about empathy – its definition and what researchers have found about why we may be more empathetic in certain situations and/or given our personalities. The blog concluded with the notion that empathy can be learned; it is our choice whether we wish to be more empathetic. [Read More]
Empathy- it is an interesting word. Although containing only 7 letters, it is packed full of meaning. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “empathy” as “the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions: the ability to share someone else's feelings.” Or, more explicitly: “the action of understanding, being [Read More]
As a mediator, I have learned to choose my words carefully. The way I phrase something will make all the difference in the world between gaining someone’s trust and angering them. The importance of wording is brought home by Kenneth Cloke in his book, The Dance of Opposites (Goodmedia Press, 2013). [Read More]
Tucked inside the Sunday Business section of the New York Times (June 28, 2015), I discovered an article entitled “The Mouth Is Mightier Than The Pen” written by Matt Richtel about a study revealing that an old fashioned telephone call is far better than an e mail (much less texting) [Read More]
I have mixed emotions. Why? Recently, I have conducted multiple mediations simultaneously in matters involving the same plaintiff’s counsel and defendant’s counsel. These are lemon law cases and so frequently the same plaintiff’s counsel will have multiple cases with the same defense counsel. The mediations are thus scheduled for a [Read More]
Happy July 4th! I hope each of you and your families enjoy the holiday! As I am in the business of conflict resolution or resolving disputes, I got to thinking about the back story behind July 4th. After all, it was a dispute that got settled by guns and warfare [Read More]
In his recently published book, Getting To Yes with Yourself (HarperCollins, 2015), William Ury explains a simple idea that may be difficult to implement; to get to Yes with others, we must first get to Yes with ourselves. Simply put; we are our own worst enemy and our own biggest obstacle [Read More]
