Here, I take a stand without professional impartiality. I named this category after a prophet who wasn’t believed, even though she was correct.
In Greek myth, the god Apollo desired Cassandra. To woo her, Apollo gave her foresight into the future. Cassandra spurned him despite his great ‘gift’. In revenge for her refusal, Apollo cursed her that her prophecies, although always correct, would never be believed.
While I’m not always correct like Cassandra, I enjoy using Conflict Analysis, my special interest, to speculate about how things are, how they got to be that way, and what should be done about them.
The mediator was Deborah Sword. She conducted an exemplary mediation conducted with dignity and professionalism. This case was perhaps more difficult than most. At first, I did not have high hopes for resolving this file at the mediation stage. However, Ms. Sword brought the participants to a point where we reached common ground and we were able to settle it fairly.
A lawyer at mediation
Deborah, we can’t thank you enough for your patient, gentle and professional instruction and for sharing your incredible knowledge and insight on how to deal with conflict and have difficult conversations. We learned a great deal over the course of a few days and have already made changes in our office. Thank you so much.
Consultation Client
Deborah went above and beyond with our client. She provided a full day workshop (instead the half day we quoted) to the team to help the client fully understand the dynamics of their conflict. Deborah’s depth and breadth of knowledge on the topic visibly reassured our client on several occasions. As well her expertise gave them considerable ideas and suggestions for future work they could do for themselves.
Consultation Client
Deborah Sword 