The human experience is often a vicious cycle of conflict, resolution, more conflict, and more resolution. War and conflict have been with humans since the dawn of mankind and is likely to persist despite our best intentions to avoid conflict. While conflict is easily started, peace is seemingly more elusive.
If one defines peace as "a state of harmony between people," mediators are not peace makers (although many strive for that moniker); rather, they are consultants in conflict management. That is, they assist the disputants in arriving at an agreement to settle the conflict. So, while the parties in dispute strive for "peace" they rarely attain that state of harmony between the parties. More often than not, neither disputant is at "peace" with the resulting agreement of mediation because it represents a compromise borne of a choice between two or more undesirable alternatives.
Conflict resolution is rarely achieved voluntarily by the warring parties. The value of mediators in legal disputes has long been recognized by the legal community and the courts; however, the disputants themselves rarely have sufficient experience to draw the same conclusion. Lay disputants are most familiar with the "law suit" as the only legal way to resolve legal disputes.
While the legal system has many rules which aid in the dispute resolution process, there are very few rules to guide the disputants in resolving their disputes outside the legal system. The guide to conflict management which follows serves a dual purpose. It serves as a road map to the destination of Resolution and as a description of this mediator’s approach to conflict resolution.
Attitude is everything.
Progress is a byproduct of attitude.
Destiny is a matter of choice.
"Principle" is just another excuse and source of conflict.
Success is not a goal, it is a result.
Contact Sture Legal Services