I discovered in the fifth grade that I enjoyed mediating conflicts on the football field almost as much as playing the games they interrupted.
Since then—well, I had to finish school first—I’ve served as a trusted guide to leaders in a wide range of organizations, helping them strengthen relationships, resolve disputes, and drive performance. I’ve advised people on transactions involving hundreds of millions of dollars in value.
Whether I’m training senior executives, facilitating team retreats, coaching scientific collaborators to work effectively together, or mediating difficult conversations, my work enables people to learn from their challenges, inhabit their best selves, and do their best work. And I enjoy it a lot.
I have trained as a mediator, a corporate trainer, an ombudsman, and a gestalt therapist, and I’ve taught over 12,000 people to be mediators. In 2011 I was honored to receive the Association for Conflict Resolution’s William Kriedler Award for “distinguished service to the field of conflict resolution.” In 2015 I was selected by the US State Department to be a Fulbright Specialist.
I’ve written numerous articles and a number of books, including The School Mediator’s Field Guide: Prejudice, Sexual Harassment, Large Groups, and Other Daily Challenges. My previous newsletter on conflict resolution had subscribers from 70 countries.
My most recent writing project is a comprehensive guide to the simple, deceptively powerful tool known as a check-in. It’s called Check-in Success, and it’s available free at checkinsuccess.com.
Outside of work I enjoy swimming in kettle ponds, great music of every genre, my wonderful family, and eating pomegranates. Not in that order.
I’d enjoy hearing from you…
Me and my gang, Iceland, 2013