I recently had the opportunity to see and hear the Dalai Lama. He spoke for over 1-1/2 hours and was incredible. Part of his talk was how each of us as individuals possess the seeds of love, compassion, empathy, kindness and forgiveness. These seeds can be developed by practice. Once we have sown said seeds

By Farley Tolpen, CEO.  I mediated a matter between two employees who worked in the same department for a medium sized company. Mutual cooperation was necessary for their positions and the company’s success. Unfortunately, there was a complete lack of communication and a high level of conflict between them with accusations of fraud, harassment and

At first glance, mindfulness and mediation are very different. Mindfulness is referred to as a solitary self-help/self-development practice. Mediation involves a conversation between a minimum of two parties and a mediator. When these two practices are joined, there are very similar parallels that lead to resolution. Both practices require the person/mediator to pay attention to

Sometimes the litigants aren’t the only antagonists. Recently I was asked to mediate in a matter that was already in its 4th year.  There had been 3 prior mediations.  There was a huge amount of anger and there were accusations of fraud, deceit, misrepresentation and thievery.  The litigants had already forked out in excess of

I have devoted my life in assisting people to resolve conflict through mediation. One of the joys of mediation is when the parties are able to set aside their differences and reach a resolution of all issues. In my experience, this occurs about 90% of the time. I recently had a complex combination of an

Yesterday I conducted a training session for about 50 QUT Masters Students on the topic of How to Manage Conflict in the Workplace.  The students were all professionals among them doctors, nurses, managers and department heads. They came from all over the world including India, China, Solomon Islands, New Zealand and Australia. It was a

Take about 40 people from all walks of life; CEOs, COOs, HR, Managers, Department Heads.   Gather in a training session and mix for three hours. Engage their attention, stir it up a bit and apply a bit of heat….. How does workplace conflict occur? How to recognize it? How to manage difficult employees? What do

Somebody asked me the other day why I liked conducting mediations.  I explained that rather like solving the Rubik’s cube or a difficult crossword puzzle, I really enjoy the challenge of finding a way to resolve a seemingly insolvable conflict.   In fact I find I have about a 90% success rate. To illustrate my point,

After a lifetime of playing, coaching and refereeing, I have come to the conclusion that sports psychology can be applied to mediation.  Both require preparation, discipline and patience.  Your mind needs to be calm, mindful, balanced and you shouldn’t take things too personally.  During mediation, as with sport, the players experience a range of emotions. 

I recently had a tough commercial mediation.   It took eight long hours of negotiation until, finally, we reached agreement. By the time I got home I was exhausted.  My head was buzzing from a powerful range of emotions, both negative and positive.   I was hungry and tired but also satisfied with my performance. As I