http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/ 15 Views on leadership from our panel of experts. en Copyright 2011 Sat, 12 Mar 2011 12:13:08 -0500 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=4.2-en http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Question: At the center of the labor dispute between NFL owners and professional football players is George Cohen, a federal mediator known for his work in helping Major League Soccer come to a resolution over its own labor battles. Mediators have no power or authority to compel either side to do anything, but they still have the capability to influence the outcome in nuanced ways. What must Cohen do to bring the more uncompromising members of both sides together to make a deal? As his top priority, George Cohen must provide constant reminders that what matters most to both the owners and the players is fan loyalty. Without the millions of tickets and jerseys sold or the billions of dollars that record television ratings rake in, the multi-billion dollar pie currently being sliced up among owners and players simply wouldn't exist. If a resolution isn't reached before the 2011-2012 season http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/focus-on-the-fans.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/focus-on-the-fans.html Sports Leadership Sat, 12 Mar 2011 12:13:08 -0500 Question: At the center of the labor dispute between NFL owners and professional football players is George Cohen, a federal mediator known for his work in helping Major League Soccer come to a resolution over its own labor battles. Mediators have no power or authority to compel either side to do anything, but they still have the capability to influence the outcome in nuanced ways. What must Cohen do to bring the more uncompromising members of both sides together to make a deal? George Cohen, unfortunately, will not see or speak to the most recalcitrant partisans on either side, but only with their selected representatives. He has the ability to shuttle between the two sides when they are not in the same room and thus perhaps to reduce the impact of inflammatory rhetoric. He has the ability to discern the relative importance of the various items in dispute to each http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-offering-middle-ground.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-offering-middle-ground.html Sports Leadership Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:56:23 -0500 Question: At the center of the labor dispute between NFL owners and professional football players is George Cohen, a federal mediator known for his work in helping Major League Soccer come to a resolution over its own labor battles. Mediators have no power or authority to compel either side to do anything, but they still have the capability to influence the outcome in nuanced ways. What must Cohen do to bring the more uncompromising members of both sides together to make a deal? When George Cohen approaches the negotiating table, he may not have the power to force specific policies, but he can influence the parameters by which negotiations are conducted. In order to bring the two sides together, it is important that Cohen establish the appropriate proceedings. In doing so, Cohen is able to exert a level of influence that makes up for his lack of leverage. Setting the http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-cooler-heads-prevail.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-cooler-heads-prevail.html Sports Leadership Wed, 09 Mar 2011 16:50:40 -0500 Question: At the center of the labor dispute between NFL owners and professional football players is George Cohen, a federal mediator known for his work in helping Major League Soccer come to a resolution over its own labor battles. Mediators have no power or authority to compel either side to do anything, but they still have the capability to influence the outcome in nuanced ways. What must Cohen do to bring the more uncompromising members of both sides together to make a deal? What is holding back resolution in the NFL dispute is not the argument about the benefits to each side of various options. Everyone involved knows all the arguments. They can make them compellingly for either side. The resistance to a new NFL contract comes from the threat or reality of loss. Leadership is about the distribution and management of loss. That is Cohen's challenge. The losses may http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-helping-both-sides-manage-loss.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-helping-both-sides-manage-loss.html Sports Leadership Wed, 09 Mar 2011 12:00:08 -0500 Question: At the center of the labor dispute between NFL owners and professional football players is George Cohen, a federal mediator known for his work in helping Major League Soccer come to a resolution over its own labor battles. Mediators have no power or authority to compel either side to do anything, but they still have the capability to influence the outcome in nuanced ways. What must Cohen do to bring the more uncompromising members of both sides together to make a deal? Negotiations are often highly emotional, making it difficult for the negotiating parties to remain focused on the real issue at hand. A mediator must listen without bias to each position, separate people and egos from the issue, and lead all parties in a meaningful discussion. It is helpful for a mediator to craft a list of interests and needs from each party, then ask them to critique http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-separating-egos-from-the-issue.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-separating-egos-from-the-issue.html Sports Leadership Wed, 09 Mar 2011 11:52:30 -0500 Question: At the center of the labor dispute between NFL owners and professional football players is George Cohen, a federal mediator known for his work in helping Major League Soccer come to a resolution over its own labor battles. Mediators have no power or authority to compel either side to do anything, but they still have the capability to influence the outcome in nuanced ways. What must Cohen do to bring the more uncompromising members of both sides together to make a deal? Sometimes a mediator can get the two sides to moderate their demands by focusing on the need to gain and retain customers. Sometimes a mediator can damp down angry feelings by getting each side to understand the other's thinking. For example, unions are often defending the fruits of past struggles, while management is worrying about future competition. But in the case of the NFL, neither party seems http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-mediating-between-players-and-owners.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-mediating-between-players-and-owners.html Sports Leadership Tue, 08 Mar 2011 20:18:25 -0500 Question: At the center of the labor dispute between NFL owners and professional football players is George Cohen, a federal mediator known for his work in helping Major League Soccer come to a resolution over its own labor battles. Mediators have no power or authority to compel either side to do anything, but they still have the capability to influence the outcome in nuanced ways. What must Cohen do to bring the more uncompromising members of both sides together to make a deal? The most important thing a great negotiator must do is establish a process that will determine how the parties can develop relationships, ensure constructive communication, manage conflict and increase trust. In our work we call this the first phase of negotiation development, and the output must be a procedural agreement. When the parties in a negotiation have a history of adversarial relationships and mistrust, a procedural agreement http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-the-negotiation-process.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-the-negotiation-process.html Sports Leadership Tue, 08 Mar 2011 20:06:08 -0500 Question: At the center of the labor dispute between NFL owners and professional football players is George Cohen, a federal mediator known for his work in helping Major League Soccer come to a resolution over its own labor battles. Mediators have no power or authority to compel either side to do anything, but they still have the capability to influence the outcome in nuanced ways. What must Cohen do to bring the more uncompromising members of both sides together to make a deal? I'm not sure what Cohen should do, but I am sure how he--or any mediator--should look. Mediators should be extremely conscious of the equity of their nonverbal communication--using equal eye contact with each side, showing the same body-language signals to both sides, and avoiding nodding or head shaking when others are talking. In American society, eye contact is important for persuasion and communication. The rule of thumb http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-how-a-mediator-should-look.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-how-a-mediator-should-look.html Sports Leadership Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:59:47 -0500 Question: At the center of the labor dispute between NFL owners and professional football players is George Cohen, a federal mediator known for his work in helping Major League Soccer come to a resolution over its own labor battles. Mediators have no power or authority to compel either side to do anything, but they still have the capability to influence the outcome in nuanced ways. What must Cohen do to bring the more uncompromising members of both sides together to make a deal? The tools open to any negotiator boil down to RIC: reason, incentives and coercion. This I learned the hard way--very hard!--as director of President Reagan's arms control agency negotiating nuclear weapons cuts with the Soviets in the 1980s. Over all those many years, and thousands (more?) of hours at the negotiating table, we came to realize the limited tools at hand. Coercion, raw power, wasn't in our http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-reason-incentives-and-coercion.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-reason-incentives-and-coercion.html Sports Leadership Tue, 08 Mar 2011 14:53:06 -0500 Question: At the center of the labor dispute between NFL owners and professional football players is George Cohen, a federal mediator known for his work in helping Major League Soccer come to a resolution over its own labor battles. Mediators have no power or authority to compel either side to do anything, but they still have the capability to influence the outcome in nuanced ways. What must Cohen do to bring the more uncompromising members of both sides together to make a deal? Mr. Cohen should point out the cost to all parties of not making a deal. Fans (rightly or wrongly) are sick of what they perceive to be greedy millionaire owners battling with greedy millionaire players--for a few extra bucks. If an agreement is not reached, and the season is shortened or even canceled, the fans are the victims. While fans have put up with this in the http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-show-some-care-for-the-average-fan.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-show-some-care-for-the-average-fan.html Sports Leadership Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:20:13 -0500 Question: At the center of the labor dispute between NFL owners and professional football players is George Cohen, a federal mediator known for his work in helping Major League Soccer come to a resolution over its own labor battles. Mediators have no power or authority to compel either side to do anything, but they still have the capability to influence the outcome in nuanced ways. What must Cohen do to bring the more uncompromising members of both sides together to make a deal? Mediation is a skill that requires patience, fortitude and wisdom. But when it comes to mediating between NFL owners and NFL players, I would add something even more important--an ability to act serious when all you want to do is laugh out loud. Consider for a moment. We have 32 ownership groups and fewer than 2,000 active roster players. None of whom can agree on how to http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-getting-real-about-whats-at-stake.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-getting-real-about-whats-at-stake.html Sports Leadership Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:14:52 -0500 Question: At the center of the labor dispute between NFL owners and professional football players is George Cohen, a federal mediator known for his work in helping Major League Soccer come to a resolution over its own labor battles. Mediators have no power or authority to compel either side to do anything, but they still have the capability to influence the outcome in nuanced ways. What must Cohen do to bring the more uncompromising members of both sides together to make a deal? While it is true that a mediator like George Cohen lacks formal authority to compel agreement, he has considerable influence over the process that unfolds. First, he will likely be able, based on his experience and reputation, to establish good working relationships with the key players representing the owners and the players. They are most likely to be the source of ideas for settlement. Second, based on http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-how-cohen-can-influence-the-process.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-how-cohen-can-influence-the-process.html Sports Leadership Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:10:17 -0500 Question: At the center of the labor dispute between NFL owners and professional football players is George Cohen, a federal mediator known for his work in helping Major League Soccer come to a resolution over its own labor battles. Mediators have no power or authority to compel either side to do anything, but they still have the capability to influence the outcome in nuanced ways. What must Cohen do to bring the more uncompromising members of both sides together to make a deal? The following responses come from five of the fellows that make up the Coro St. Louis 2011 class. Trust through shared commitments At first glance, the NFL Players Association and team owners seem irreconcilably divided over $9 billion dollars to divvy up, potential expansion to an 18-game season, a rookie pay scale and retirement benefits. The owners perceive players as disrespectful and entitled. The players view the http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-deal-or-no-deal.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/nfl-deal-or-no-deal.html Sports Leadership Tue, 08 Mar 2011 07:40:22 -0500 Question: Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin continues to demand an end to collective bargaining rights for state employees even after winning their agreement on the benefit reductions he sought. These are the same state employees he must rely on to operate state government and implement his policies. How should he strike the balance between the urgent need to restore the state's fiscal health and his longer-term challenge of leading a large governmental enterprise? I don't know that Wisconsin's Governor can "strike a balance" since the conditions underneath the situation in Wisconsin are so out of balance. Historically, and in Wisconsin, individuals and the union movement have shown a willingness to sacrifice for the sake of democracy. I grew up during World War II where even children had savings bonds to support soldiers, and where I was charged with adding the orange coloring that disguised the lard as butter on our http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/leadership-requires-balance-and-fairness.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/leadership-requires-balance-and-fairness.html Economic crisis Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:35:37 -0500 Question: Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin continues to demand an end to collective bargaining rights for state employees even after winning their agreement on the benefit reductions he sought. These are the same state employees he must rely on to operate state government and implement his policies. How should he strike the balance between the urgent need to restore the state's fiscal health and his longer-term challenge of leading a large governmental enterprise? As Wisconsin governor Scott Walker joins many of his brethren in attacking the bargaining rights and economic well-being of state employees, I met with a Singapore government employee going back to a senior position in his country's department of homeland security. One of four people attending the Stanford Sloan program, at a cost of over $100,000 just in tuition, he illustrates a very different leadership approach to public sector employment. Singapore believes that if some task, including http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/you-get-what-you-pay-for--even-with-state-employees.html http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/panelists/2011/03/you-get-what-you-pay-for--even-with-state-employees.html Economic crisis Wed, 02 Mar 2011 10:15:41 -0500