Storytelling

We all love a delightful story. And stories are important in negotiating and resolving disputes. This point was eloquently made by Dr. Joshua N. Weiss in Harvard’s Program on Negotiation, “The Sunday Minute” (April 17, 2022): At their best, stories create a sense of connection, build trust, allow the listener [Read More]

By |May 13th, 2022|Negotiating|

Competition, empathy and deception!

Once again, the Harvard Project on Negotiation (PONS) posted a blog on whether men or women are more likely to use deceptive tactics in negotiation. (See my February 21, 2020, blog) Citing several studies, researchers found competitiveness and level of empathy play a role in whether a negotiator is likely [Read More]

By |February 4th, 2022|Negotiation|

Interpersonal Skills

The end of the semester is drawing near in my online employment mediation dispute class. The theme of the last discussion board is reflective: what three things has each student learned from or skills developed or improved upon in this course. There is a saying to the effect that as [Read More]

By |April 30th, 2021|Mediations|

The Non-Apology Apology

Several times in the past, I have written blog posts on the power of an apology and the right way to do it.  (See, “It Ain’t Easy To Say “I’m Sorry”” and “On Apologies….Once  Again”). The other day, I was reading some other blog posts and came across one discussing [Read More]

Process Before Substance

As part of a book club group, I recently read Negotiating the Impossible: How to Break Deadlocks and Resolve Ugly Conflicts (Without Money or Muscle) by Deepak Malhotra (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. 2016). The thesis of the book is simple: to resolve any conflict, one must employ Framing, Process and Empathy. [Read More]

By |August 2nd, 2019|Research|

Civility Precedes Empathy!

There can be no empathy where there is no civility. I was at a conference  recently during which one the presenters made this statement. It struck me as I had never thought about these concepts as being connected. But, indeed, they are. “Civility” is defined as “…the act of showing [Read More]