These blogs will focus on musings about negotiation, communication and relationship building, with reflections on concepts, skills, and how they are applied (or not) to situations happening to us or around us. Some of the musings will be reflective of what is in my book on negotiation, New Story, New Power: A Woman’s Guide to Negotiation. Some will be reflections on my work in teaching, coaching, training people in negotiation and conflict resolution. And some musings will be related to the peacebuilding work I do in the field, mostly Colombia, with youth and community leaders.

A few topics I concentrate on include a focus on women and gender, specifically, on women and negotiation. Research has been done that is both eye opening and contradictory in its messaging and in relation to what is advocated and what is experienced by women when negotiating. I will try to bring in real life examples to make the writing come to life and resonate with readers.

Another foundational topic that is central to the work I do and how I do it, is CMM, Coordinated Management of Meaning, which is a practical communication theory. In essence, if we have the ability to make the relationships we have and the social worlds around us by the way we communicate and interact with others, then we also have the agency to change them and make them better.

I look forward to writing to engage you as readers and co-creators of the exchange I hope to foster. I encourage you to write your own musings in response to what I have written and to pose new questions that grab your curiosity.

Thank you for joining me in this ongoing conversation.

Beth