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Conflict Resolution Newsletter
by Alternative Resolutions, LLC 

January 2013 - Vol 3, Issue 1
In This Issue
Company News & Recent Publications
Conflict as an Opportunity for Leadership
Theory Applicaition Tips
Conflict Resolution Events
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 New website feature: our prior newsletters are now available on our website!!!
Company News and Recent Publications

 

Just published...

Newly Revised Fact shet

The High Cost of Conflict Email us for a copy.

 

New roster...

Ellen Kandell was recently approved to join the mediator list for Montgomery County Circuit Court custody disputes.

 

Check out our recent radio interview on mediation and dispute resolution. To listen click here.

   

 
"The High Cost of Conflict, Smart Biz" was published in the March April  edition of  270 Inc. Business Magazine.  Email us for a copy at [email protected].

 

 

Greetings!

Ellen head shot blazer 

The beginning of a new year is a time for resolutions, new goals and commitments, and a hope for changing habits or adopting new ones.  The beginning of 2013 presents us with new cabinet secretaries and legislators at the national and state level so it is a good time to reflect on leadership.

There are numerous resources on leadership and conflict resolution.  In the coming months we will feature tools to help leaders serve as conflict resolution models.

Conflict as an Opportunity for Leadership

 

Warren Bennis, a professor of business administration at University of Southern California discusses conflict as an opportunity for leadership.  We need leaders who will take on conflict courageously and resolve it, whether in our organizations, our society or our daily lives, Bennis writes in the foreword  to Kenneth Cloke and Joan Goldsmith, Resolving Conflicts at Work:  Ten Strategies for Everyone on the Job, San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, 2011.   The first skill of these future leaders is the capacity to  exercise good judgment in their decision making in light of serious conflicts.  They should possess knowledge, wisdom and values that foster collaboration and conflict resolution.  A second leadership skill is the ability to enlist and motivate others to find common ground to resolve conflicts.  Finally, leaders must have the skill of respect for diverse viewpoints that are represented in conflicts. Id. Many leaders fail here because they prejudge a situation.  They don't listen for underlying interests.

This new breed of forward thinking leaders which Bennis imagines will share critical characteristics, especially alignment, empowerment and transparency.

Fundamental Characteristics of Future Leaders

  

Alignment. Leaders that foster collaboration will be able to align their colleagues at all levels of the organization. This alignment is directly connected to a culture of empowered teams. Such leaders share a common understanding of the causes of organizational conflict and a commitment to resolve them. Conflict is viewed as an opportunity to learn and leaders see it as a chance to improve the organization as a whole.

 

 

Empowerment. All parties are empowered to identify and resolve conflict. This is based on a belief that everyone counts. Such empowered individuals are able to take the risk of acknowledging conflicts they generate or encounter and there is a widespread culture of respect which enables this approach to take place.

 

Transparency. In a values based learning organization, staff on all levels are empowered to find, identify and resolve conflicts before they generate an explosion. Leaders actively encourage everyone so all employees can feel safe to test ideas, even when there is risk of failure.

 

When these characteristics are shared by an organization's leaders it prompts the growth of decentralized organizational structures such as cross functional teams.  Meaningful interaction, healthy conflict and active dissent  are encouraged.  "This subtle yet profound and perceptible change taking place in our philosophy of leadership creates organizational cultures that encourage the honest expression of conflict and candid discussion of differences." Id.  Cloke and Goldsmith's book is a guide for those who want to courageously approach workplace conflict.

What do the characteristics of a mediator have to do with leadership?   Great leaders bring the skills and characteristics of a mediator to solve tough organizational challenges.  This is the premise of Mark Gerzon in Leading Through Conflict:  How Successful Leaders Transform Differences into Opportunities, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 2006.  In the coming months we will feature the tools described in Leading Through Conflict.

Next month: The Mediator as Leader
  

Theory Application TIPS

TIPS for leaders when facing conflict

         Treat conflict as an opportunity for growth, not a threat

         Encourage open and early resolution of disputes

         Learn different conflict management strategies

         Become conflict competent

         Empower managers and supervisors to learn from conflict

 

Do you have questions about this month's article? We'd like to hear from you Email us now!

Conflict Resolution in the Community:  Upcoming Events
 

Basic Mediation Training, Spring 2013.  Email us for further information. 

 

March 8, 2013 The Ethics of Counseling Your Clients on Workplace Issues, Columbia, MD

 

March 15, 2013 Expanding Your Practice to Collaborative Counseling, Columbia, MD

 

Classes in collaboration with Dr. Gloria Vanderhorst.  To register go to http://www.mentalhealthceus.eventbrite.com/ 

We look forward to being your partners in productive, proactive conflict resolution endeavors. If you are a new reader or didn't request a copy previously please email us for a free copy of our organizational needs assessment.  Put your organization in a conflict healthy environment.

Sincerely,

Ellen

Ellen F. Kandell, Esq.
Alternative Resolutions, LLC