Calming the Storm: A Leader's Handbook for Managing Unproductive Conflicts

by Peter Steven Adler

Overview

If you are a leader—in any sense of the word—or aspire to be an effective one, the world desperately needs you. Perhaps you are an elected or appointed official. Or you run a library. Or you coach a Little League team. While leaders do many things, a major cornerstone of effective leadership is conflict management.

Filled with many engaging stories and examples, Calming the Storm: A Leader’s Handbook for Managing Unproductive Conflicts presents seventy-five short and quick guidelines for getting past useless arguments and taming cranky issues. Conflict management expert Peter S. Adler brings decades of national and international experience that will be useful for all types of leaders in the public, private, and civil sectors who need to negotiate considerations, calm frictions, mend fences, and facilitate cooperation. This practical book provides a reservoir of ideas that can be used and adapted for diverse, individual situations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798881801939
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	09/02/2024
Series:	The ACR Practitioner's Guide Series
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.51(d)

About the Author

Peter S. Adler, Ph.D. is a partner in GUILD Consulting and the former president and CEO of The Keystone Center (www.keystone.org). Adler’s specialty is multi-party problem-solving for policy and governance disputes and for enterprises seeking operational alignment, excellence, and strategy. He has extensive national and international experience with business and policy negotiations and writes, trains, and teaches in areas of conflict management. Adler is a former Peace Corps volunteer and has held executive positions with the Hawai‘i Supreme Court, Hawai‘i Justice Foundation, and the Neighborhood Justice Center and served as president of the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution. He has authored five books and other publications in the field of conflict management.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

About the Author
Introduction
Want to Calm a Storm?
I. Timing is Everything
II. Be Ready to Enlist Others into Your Effort
III. Get into an “Independence” Zone
IV. Help Rivals Find Sweet Spots
V. Watch “Power” Expand, Shift, or Attenuate
VI. Grab that Sudden Innovation Inspiration and See if it Fits
VII. Uncover Fresh Energy
VIII. Make Teams High Performing
IX. Listen More, Absorb Everything, Talk Sparingly
X. Find Facts (Together)
XI. Take on the Snarky Governance Problem
XII. Look Around the Bend and Over the Horizon
XIII. Build Pacts, Treaties, Bargains, and Accords
XIV. Choreograph Moves
XV. Move Past Gridlock
Postscript

Editorial Reviews

Adler’s extensive expertise in conflict resolution are game-changing for businesses of every size and scope. The strategies laid out in this book resonated so deeply for me. The book is concise, affirming, and loaded with guidance and strengthening for greater and expansive efficiency. I use this as a tool for years to come!

Kay Sides

Adler offers a beacon of hope for practitioners navigating the tumultuous waters of conflict resolution in today's divided societies. With Calming the Storm as their compass, practitioners can steer through even the fiercest storms of public controversies towards practical solutions.

Masahiro "Masa" Matsuura

The links between effective leadership and the ability to address conflict in productive ways are indisputable. Yet, rarely are they connected in such a compelling way. Peter Adler’s approach to identify real barriers to effective leadership and practical ways to address those barriers fills an important void. His wisdom and experience shine through in a way that penetrates theory with reality.

Gregory Bourne

This is a book that needed to be written and none better to do so than Peter Adler who has spent a lifetime building human bridges and guiding deeply divided stakeholders toward consensus on intractable societal issues.”

Clinton A. Vince

“Peter Adler brings his unique and vast experience to a vexing challenge in today's landscape—how can we foster more cooperation and collaboration in an environment dominated by ideological and partisan divides. Through carefully selected vignettes and historical examples, he explores the tactics and techniques essential to being a positive leader in today's demanding environment. He covers this material with incredible insight and inspiration. This is a must-read for anyone interested in good government.”

Thomas Corbett

“This is a book that needed to be written and none better to do so than Peter Adler who has spent a lifetime building human bridges and guiding deeply divided stakeholders toward consensus on intractable societal issues.”” —Clinton A. Vince, partner and chair, Dentons' US Energy Practice Group; co-chair of Dentons Global Energy Sector

““Peter Adler brings his unique and vast experience to a vexing challenge in today's landscape—how can we foster more cooperation and collaboration in an environment dominated by ideological and partisan divides. Through carefully selected vignettes and historical examples, he explores the tactics and techniques essential to being a positive leader in today's demanding environment. He covers this material with incredible insight and inspiration. This is a must-read for anyone interested in good government.”” —Thomas Corbett, Senior Scientist Emeritus, University of Wisconsin; affiliate, Institute for Research on Poverty

““Calming the Storm offers an amazing collection of wisdom and anecdotes revealing Peter Adler’s deep experience in the conflict resolution and consensus building field. I often found several things delightfully new that I didn’t know on practically every page of this book. For people who are new to the field, the treasures here are even more abundant. This book is unlike any other book in the field: it is useful, but at the same time, it is just plain fun!”” —Dr. Heidi Burgess, founder and co-director, University of Colorado; Conflict Information Consortium; Beyond Intractability

“An independent facilitator and problem solver, Peter Adler enthralls you with a succession of interwoven ideas and stories that reveal the complexity and interconnections among a host of social conflicts, organizational challenges, and governance problems. Adler’s infatuation with thorny problems combined with his enthusiasm about tackling them is infectious—no gimmicks, but rather, a generous and accepting sensibility infused with compassion and humor.” —Howard Gadlin, author of Evolution of a Field: Personal Histories in Conflict Resolution

“The links between effective leadership and the ability to address conflict in productive ways are indisputable. Yet, rarely are they connected in such a compelling way. Peter Adler’s approach to identify real barriers to effective leadership and practical ways to address those barriers fills an important void. His wisdom and experience shine through in a way that penetrates theory with reality.” —Gregory Bourne, co-founder and principal, Lead4Tomorrow

“This book will delight the hardened dispute resolver, give hope to the conflict-weary leader, and delight anyone who needs to walk towards the eye of the storm. Peter Adler is a superstar in the world of dispute resolution. In Calming the Storm, he reminds us that conflict is inevitable, so we need to get comfortable in the eye of the storm.” —Nina Harding, Nina Harding Mediation Services

“Adler offers a beacon of hope for practitioners navigating the tumultuous waters of conflict resolution in today's divided societies. With Calming the Storm as their compass, practitioners can steer through even the fiercest storms of public controversies towards practical solutions.” —Masahiro "Masa" Matsuura, professor, Graduate School of Governance Studies, Meiji University

“Adler’s extensive expertise in conflict resolution are game-changing for businesses of every size and scope. The strategies laid out in this book resonated so deeply for me. The book is concise, affirming, and loaded with guidance and strengthening for greater and expansive efficiency . I use this as a tool for years to come!” —Kay Sides, Founder & CEO of Hatch, Inc. and ROAM Footware, Inc.

“Peter Adler is a person who seems to relish resolving intractable situations. He correctly asserts that what counts is how we handle them. He provides us with the insight to deal with conflict resolution in Calming the Storm by citing specific examples and telling personal stories using understandable prose.” —John D. Waihee, former Governor of Hawai'i

From the Publisher

Peter Adler is a person who seems to relish resolving intractable situations. He correctly asserts that what counts is how we handle them. He provides us with the insight to deal with conflict resolution in Calming the Storm by citing specific examples and telling personal stories using understandable prose.

John D. Waihee

This book will delight the hardened dispute resolver, give hope to the conflict-weary leader, and delight anyone who needs to walk towards the eye of the storm. Peter Adler is a superstar in the world of dispute resolution. In Calming the Storm, he reminds us that conflict is inevitable, so we need to get comfortable in the eye of the storm.

Nina Harding

An independent facilitator and problem solver, Peter Adler enthralls you with a succession of interwoven ideas and stories that reveal the complexity and interconnections among a host of social conflicts, organizational challenges, and governance problems. Adler’s infatuation with thorny problems combined with his enthusiasm about tackling them is infectious—no gimmicks, but rather, a generous and accepting sensibility infused with compassion and humor.

Howard Gadlin

Calming the Storm offers an amazing collection of wisdom and anecdotes revealing Peter Adler’s deep experience in the conflict resolution and consensus building field. I often found several things delightfully new that I didn’t know on practically every page of this book. For people who are new to the field, the treasures here are even more abundant. This book is unlike any other book in the field: it is useful, but at the same time, it is just plain fun!”

Dr. Heidi Burgess