Achieving Success as a Mediator

• Author: Victoria Pynchon/Joe Kraynak (With)
• Profession: Mediator, author, speaker, negotiation trainer, consultant, and attorney with 25 years of experience in commercial litigation practice/Professional writer who has contributed to numerous For Dummies books
• Pages: 9-20

Chapter 1

Achieving Success as a Mediator

In This Chapter

▶ Deciding whether you have the skills and personality to be a mediator

▶ Finding career opportunities in mediation

▶ Acquiring essential mediation skills, training, and education

▶ Launching and marketing your mediation business

A

sk a dozen people what success means, and you’re likely to get a dozen

different definitions. For some, success means lots of money. Others

define it in terms of happiness or freedom from worry. For others, success

means spending quality time with loved ones. When focusing on success as a

mediator, however, the word means two things:

✓ You’re good at facilitating dispute resolution.

✓ You earn enough money to make mediation your career or, at a mini-

mum, a significant source of new income.

To be a great mediator, you need to master the skills, techniques, and strate-

gies required to assist parties in resolving their disputes. To earn enough

money to make mediation a worthwhile career, you need to market yourself

and network in ways that attract clients who can pay what your services

are worth.

This book is dedicated to empowering you to achieve success as a mediator

in both areas. This chapter serves as the CliffsNotes version, getting you up to

speed in a hurry.

Do You Have What It Takes?

Not everyone has the makeup to be a mediator. Some people lack patience,

are uncomfortable with conflict, or are unable to remain impartial. Others

lack essential abilities, including critical thinking, problem-solving, and com-

munication skills. Sure, you can develop some of what you may lack through

education, training, and experience, but much of what’s required to be a

mediator is born and bred — it has to do with personality and attitude. In the

following sections, you take a personality and skills inventory to see whether

you have what it takes to be a master mediator.