dougnoll’s posthaven

Segment 1: BalancedCoaching.com.  On this edition of The Doug Noll Show we are speaking with Merle Rockwell and Ed Modell, founders of Balanced Coaching (www.balancedcoaching.com). Merle and Ed became mediators before mediation and coaching became mainstream. They are located in Maryland, which has long been a leader within the United States, and even the world, in regards to mediation.

Merle was always been drawn to trying to help people work together more effectively. She began her mediation career by taking classes and then organizing a grass-roots conflict resolution center. As founding director of the Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County, Merle built a non-profit in Maryland specializing in conflict management training.

Ed was a lawyer by trade but wanted to find his true calling, so to speak. He spoke with a career counselor who suggested mediation, and ultimately made the jump from law to mediation in 2002.

Segment 2: Conflict is Always Around Us.  In 2003 Ed was invited to sit in on a coaching class at a University and fell in love with the idea of coaching. He had spent 30 years asking questions as a lawyer, and it dawned on him that asking probing questions and participating in active listening is a skill that could be translated easily to a career as a coach and mediator.

Conflict is always going to be around us. How we deal with it is the key. Merle and Ed teach people the skills necessary to manage anger effectively and turn conflict into a productive effort instead of a destructive one. Neither or Ed or Merle have a fear of conflict, which has helped them in their careers. Blending coaching and mediation was a natural fit.

Segment 3: Keep It Simple, Make It Useful.  Merle and Ed work together to train mediators to be conflict management coaches. They recently did a 2-day training seminar with follow-up, refresher courses, and mentoring. Their philosophy is to keep it simple, make it useful.

Segment 4: Call It Courageous.  Their business is growing, mostly through word of mouth. One of the things they recognized long ago is that the word “mediation” is a turn-off for some people, so instead of calling it “difficult”, they call it “courageous.” Success has everything to do with the language that is used when they introduce the process and how they articulate the possibilities and the energy surrounding the process. There are great opportunities for people getting into mediation and coaching these days. There are now programs in prestigious universities and colleges, and a possibility of making a good living while doing something you love. To find out more about Merle and Ed’s work, please visit www.balancedcoaching.com. 

To listen to the entire interview, CLICK HERE or visit http://wsradio.com/082814-making-difference-peace-peace-merle-rockwell-ed-modell/.

Segment 1: Conflict Management Coaching.  On this edition of The Doug Noll Show we are speaking with lawyer, mediator, certified coach and former social worker Cinnie Noble. Cinnie is the founder of CinergyCoaching.com, a business focused on Conflict Management Coaching. Cinnie’s journey started as a social worker, working with people with disabilities. She started the first travel agency in Canada for people with disabilities, which taught her how to be a business owner and an advocate, and eventually led her to law school. In law school she began looking at conflict in a different way. Cinnie studied Family Law and ultimately found herself in mediation in the late 1980’s when it was a relatively new field. She became interested in studying how people learned conflict management and dealt with conflicts within the workplace, and eventually started her Conflict Management Coaching business.

Segment 2: Conflict Intelligence.  What is Conflict Management Coaching? It is a one-on-one process for helping people strengthen their ability to engage in conflict. It might be used before, during or after the conflict. The goal is to develop conflict intelligence and more proficiency in dealing with conflict. Her clients know what their habits are and what they’re trying to shift. The coaching is used to help people get underneath the emotions and ask, What’s triggering it? What’s behind it? How can we regulate he emotion and deal with the conflict in a healthy way? 

Segment 3: The Importance of Self-Reflection.  In mediation training there is very little that teaches us how to manage strong emotions. Cinnie often helps mediators who are suffering from fatigue and burn-out. In general, many of the lawyers and mediators who come to Cinnie for help have not been trained in being self-reflective and doing enough work exploring their own personal views and triggers. She would love to see ongoing coaching in mediation training centered around emotional intelligence. 

Segment 4: Practice, Theory, and Science.  So how does one go about becoming a conflict coach? Cinnie does a few online tele-seminars and webinars every year for folks all over the world. The candidates get coached through the training process and get certified. Cinnie’s book includes coaching principles, conflict management principles, and neuroscience principles. (Practice, theory, and the science behind it.) To learn more about Cinnie’s work, please visit her website: http://www.cinergycoaching.com/.

To listen to the entire interview, please CLICK HERE or visit http://wsradio.com/081414-cinergy-coaching-peacemaking-one-person-time/.