Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Breaking the Sound Barrier


Chuck Yeager was the first person to break the sound barrier. When he landed from the flight the media ran to him and asked what he had to say. His first comment was “just before you break through the sound barrier, the cockpit shakes the most.”

When I heard this story about Chuck Yeager I couldn’t help but think about working with people in conflict. Because the “cockpit” usually has to shake before the parties are able to break through the conflict.

What would have happened if Chuck would have backed off when the cockpit was shaking? If he had backed off, he would not have broken the sound barrier and nothing would have changed. Because he pushed through the shaking and the fear of the unknown, he became a legend.

When serving as a mediator, are we doing our job if we back off when the going gets tough? Or is it our job to support the parties through the shaking and help them come out on the other side? If we don’t help them go somewhere new then what good are we?

I believe it is our job to support the parties through the shaking and help them come out on the other side, helping them to break their own sound barrier. We can only do this if we are able to tolerate the shaking ourselves…. If we stop the process because of the shaking, we are getting in the way of the parties moving forward.

How do you get through the shaking? Share with others by leaving a comment on this blog…

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