ADR Vantage, Inc.ADR Vantage, Inc.ADR Vantage, Inc.
Why is it so challenging for us to develop productive and meaningful approaches to conflict when conflict, in varying degrees, is something we live with daily? Conflict is a normal and inevitable aspect of our lives that can be a stimulus for positive change, and yet, the language we use…
Having been a mediator for nearly eleven years, I can’t say that I have seen it all, but I’ve certainly found myself amid plenty of intense conflicts. I’ve sat calmly at a table while people a foot away from me stood screaming into each other’s faces, or pounded on the…
Listening or active silence is like a “wonder drug” for communication. Staying silent but attentive to conversations, staying curious and asking questions to draw out others and clarify meaning, and sharing our own views as a reflection of what has been said, opens new possibilities. It helps people feel their…
In this quiet month of August, it’s a good time to reconsider the art and practice of listening. Let’s kick it off with a proposal to update the phrase “Active Listening” to “Deep Listening” or listening to understand. This differs from the transactional way we too often listen when, rather…
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Carol Dweck’s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, and what it teaches about the role of mindset in our embrace of the new, sometimes hard, and always unknown of transition. Those are the very conditions that often trigger a fixed-mindset in which it’s…
So often in the discussion of resilience the focus is on the individual – how can they relieve, manage and reduce stressors and learn to become more resilient – and resilient people who are engaged, empowered and supported are indeed a core component of a resilient workplace culture. A resilient…
Phrases like “Women in the Workplace” and “Glass Ceiling” have been around for so long that they’ve almost become cliché, as if they should have been retired years ago. Well – yes – they should have, especially with what we now know about the positive “bottom-line” contributions women have been…
Collaboration can address key business challenges, including communication breakdowns and leveraging resources to produce more and better solutions, but collaboration needs to be managed to reap its benefits. Unstructured collaboration can lead to conflict, loss in productivity, and employee disengagement. There are a number of ways that organizations can improve…
As an attorney, I have attended many discussions and panels on civility in the courtroom and how our profession benefits from encouraging and modeling civility and respectful communications in and out of the courtroom. So, the concept of civility is not foreign to attorneys; it’s something we hear throughout our…