Conflict Resolution for Men

Pause before you answer, look for the interests under the positions, and label what you hear without giving up the facts. The Silverback's Guide to Conflict has de-escalation, the Harvard method, tactical empathy, forty word-for-word scripts and thirty working rules.

You will argue with customers, colleagues, contractors, committees and the bloke at the registration desk. Pressure can make careful thinking harder just when you need it most. The book's practical answer is a short pause: stop, take an easy breath, decide on the next useful sentence. Count to six if it helps. 'Six is a cue, not a biological guarantee.' Then the tools: interests, not positions; labelling, mirroring and the accusation audit; strategic silence. The first principle: 'Win the person, not the argument - without trading away your boundaries.' It is commentary, not legal or clinical advice, and no script guarantees agreement.