22 Ways to Make the Right Reputation

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It always comes as a shock to find out what others see us quite differently than we see ourselves. Often, it can be distressing, particularly at work. “I don’t get it. I’m not that way.” Maybe not. But it happens. And when it does, a bad reputation can stick tighter than Super Glue, thanks to […]

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In today’s highly competitive workplace, reputation makes a difference. Your competition can be down the hall, across the country, or 10 feet away. It can be someone who wants your customer or your job — maybe both.

When it comes to your reputation, hoping for the best isn’t good enough. It leaves it in the hands of others. Your reputation needs to be shaped and managed so it reflects the way you want to be viewed. Here are 22 ways to go about deliberately shaping how others see you.

Take on extra work
Sure, you have more than enough on your plate, so why pile on anything more? It lets you demonstrate your ability to shoulder a heavier load. And that doesn’t go unnoticed.

Meet deadlines
“I didn’t have enough time,” may be the top excuse for failing to meet deadlines, as if something beyond our control intervened and caused us to fail. What really happens is that we run out of time — and that’s due to poor planning.

Come up with ideas to improve something
It isn’t that most people don’t have ideas; it’s simply they’re afraid to present them. They say, What will people think? Maybe it’s stupid? Just take a chance. You’ll be surprised.

Express appreciation to someone who helps
We all get busy and move from one thing to another, and before we know it, several people have come to our aid. Just another day at the office. It shouldn’t be. Make it a point to say thanks.

Give credit to others
It seems as if it diminishes us if we make a point to give a “shout out” to a co-worker. But just the opposite is true. It says we understand what it means to be a team player.

Pitch in when someone is out
Whether it’s taking messages, answering questions, or solving a problem, it says you have their back. It won’t be forgotten.

Ask questions
We’ve all been in meetings where stuff goes by that’s new, unclear, or confusing. Ask a question. Don’t assume you’re the only one who didn’t get it. It shows you’re thinking.

Be careful about complaining
When there’s nothing else to do, it’s complain time, particularly at lunch or after work. Complaining can be toxic and those who do it put their reputation at risk.

Welcome new co-workers
There is a reason to be the first — first impressions are indelible, and you will be remembered.

Go out of your way to help customers
Look at these as opportunities, not interferences. They’re memorable. Customers like to talk about the times when someone did something special for them.

Come up with solutions for problems
Avoid the instinct to hold back, play it safe, and worry about: “What if it doesn’t work out? What if it’s rejected?” Give it a try and you may be surprised what happens.

Offer suggestions so others don’t trip themselves up
“Would it be helpful to look at it this way?” or “Have you considered other possibilities?” Such questions can help rescue someone from stepping off a cliff, from making an unnecessary mistake. They won’t forget it.

Admit it when you’re wrong
It’s easy to say, “Everybody makes mistakes” or “I’m just human” when we get something wrong. But passing it off is quite different from taking ownership and saying, “I was wrong.” Both impact one’s reputation.

If you spot a problem, propose a solution
Identifying problems is a popular workplace pastime. Coming up with possible solutions, not so much. One is seen as complaining, the other as being helpful.

Step back to get a bigger picture
What’s going on right around us holds our attention, blinding us to the bigger picture, distorting our thinking, and causing us to react inappropriately. It helps to step back so we can see more clearly.

Pay attention to details
Nothing is more disruptive, embarrassing, and frustrating than the wrong address or price, a phone number that’s one digit off, a misspelling, or something that was left out. Reputations are made on accuracy; the opposite is also true.

Don’t make excuses
It’s quite simple: the opposite of making excuses is taking responsibility. Either way, there’s a reward, one you want and one you don’t.

Avoid having someone remind you
Digital calendars and reminders should eliminate the need for someone to remind us. It hasn’t. The offenders are just more visible.

Thank those who help you
Although we may not admit it, there are many hands pulling up our bootstraps, not just our own. Be generous in expressing appreciation to everyone who literally gives you a hand.

Tell someone when they do a good job
Criticism comes easily, praise not so much. Most people benefit from less of the former and more of the latter.

Welcome challenges
If all we know is what we’re doing now at work, we’re coasting. When we dare to step out of our comfort zone and take risks, we do more than just hold a job.

Smile more
A Penn State study found that smiling employees are more approachable, likeable, and appear more competent, as well as more trustworthy, according to University of Pittsburgh researchers.

When all is said and done, your reputation is what you make it.

John Graham of GrahamComm is a marketing and sales strategy consultant and business writer. He is the creator of “Magnet Marketing,” and publishes a free monthly eBulletin, “No Nonsense Marketing & Sales Ideas.” Contact him at jgraham@grahamcomm.com or johnrgraham.com

Father and son ready to grow Addcom in a smaller space

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CICERO — David M. Adams worked for himself for years, building and repairing communications equipment. He started the one-man shop as a home-based business, later rented space on Teall Avenue in Syracuse in the late 1980s, and then moved to a small building in an industrial park next to Hancock International Airport. He wasn’t always

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He wasn’t always alone, of course. He would get visits from his five children and, back in the day, one of his sons, David M. Adams II, would drive a go-cart around the quieter streets in the industrial park.

The younger Adams found what his father did interesting and pursued a degree in wireless communications at SUNY Canton until the college dropped the program. He returned to the Syracuse area, earned certification as an electrician, and worked for Time Warner Cable for a few years.

Then his father asked him about working with him at his company, Addcom Electronics, in space a short walk from his small shop. For the past 12 years, they’ve worked together at the former building 452 at the Hancock Airpark, a 9,800-square-foot building with Cold-War era cinderblock-and- rebar construction the company rents from Onondaga County.

Things have gone well, so well that young David became a partner in the business with his father three years ago.

While technically David M. Adams II, he refers to himself as “Junior” and his father as “Senior,” to make it easier for callers and others to figure out to whom they are speaking. He explains that he and his father share duties — both sell and repair communications equipment and both install equipment. A smile crosses Senior’s face as his son explains that when one of the company’s three radio towers needs to be climbed, it’s Junior who gets the job.

Competing in a market that includes United Radio, with more than 400 employees in Central New York, Addcom has carved out a niche providing communications to school-district bus fleets as well as farms, golf courses, taxi services, retailers, and hotels and motels. The firm has customers stretching from Oswego to Cortland counties and from Verona to halfway to Rochester, Senior says. The company designs, installs, and supports radio communication systems.

When off-the-shelf technology doesn’t fit the bill, Junior likes to turn to Senior for custom solutions. For instance, at a nursing home, the standard emergency pull-cord system would broadcast information about the person who had called for help. That might have been OK before, but violates today’s patient-privacy standards.

To solve the problem, Senior created a system that alerts workers to the call for help by radio, without sharing the information with those not authorized to know.

“They give us a problem and we give them something they can count on,” Junior says.

At 63, and with no plans to retire, Senior explains that radio communications has a bright future, even in the age of smartphones, particularly among those who deal with emergencies or care for children.

“In an emergency, the first thing to go is cell service,” he says, adding that in the event of disaster, radio will work, even if it has to fall back on battery service. “If something happens, radio users can continue to talk.”

Radio also allows one person to speak to many at once, something that can be very helpful in an emergency when there may not be time to dial individuals one by one, Junior adds.

“You’re never out of luck with radio,” Senior says.

In addition, 34-year-old Junior points out that while radio may seem to a casual observer to be a 20th century technology, it continues to evolve. Digital radio sets have improved reception and even increased range for radio sets, adding as much as 20 percent to the distance at which a signal can be clearly heard.

Looking to the future, Addcom is getting ready to grow while moving into a smaller building. The current building is far too large for the business, both men say. The nearly 10,000-square-foot building can cost $1,000 a month to heat and the sturdy construction makes modifying the space impractical, they say.

So they are preparing to break ground on a new 4,800 square-foot, steel-sided building. It features a more efficient layout and three offices next to each other to make room for a third employee as the business continues to grow. (The new building’s restroom is much smaller than the one in their current building with its three stalls and seven urinals.)

Like the previous space, Addcom’s new building will be in Hancock Air Park, a short walk from the current structure. The company applied for a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement with the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency (OCIDA) and asked for a break on the sales tax for materials used for the new location. The firm’s application to OCIDA puts the total tax savings at $47,797 and expects the project to cost about $275,000.

The OCIDA board approved the application at its April 10 meeting, noting it will create new taxable property and allow the county to sell Addcom’s current space and put it on the property-tax rolls as well.

Senior says he’s not sure what innovation will next bring growth to the communications industry, but he’s sure it will. In the meantime, he says, he and his son have built a successful business and are taking steps to keep it going. “We make a comfortable living. We have fun. That’s the important thing,” he says.

Covey Computer Services to move to new office within Utica

Construction, Design & Real Estate, New York News, Regional News, Small Business, Technology

UTICA, N.Y. — Covey Computer Services (CoveyCS) of Utica is moving from its previous home on Genesee Street to the former GE building at 901

Rochester–area firm acquires Stevens Office Interiors

People on the Move, Subscriber Only

DeWITT — FM Office Express Inc., which operates in the Rochester area, has acquired Stevens Office Interiors of DeWitt in a deal that represents a succession plan for Stevens co-owners Thomas Maugeri and Patrick Lewis. The acquisition deal closed March 31, says Maugeri, who spoke with CNYBJ in his office at Stevens Office Interiors on

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The acquisition deal closed March 31, says Maugeri, who spoke with CNYBJ in his office at Stevens Office Interiors on April 13. Fabricio Morales, CEO of FM Office Express, joined the interview over the phone.

With Stevens Office Interiors, FM Office Express is serving the Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany markets and can “better deploy more resources to better service the market,” says Morales.

Neither Maugeri nor Morales would disclose any financial terms of the acquisition agreement. Morales also declined to disclose how his company financed the purchase or specify the assets that his company acquired in the transaction.

Maugeri, who served as president of Stevens Office Interiors, and Lewis, who was company VP, have been retained as consultants. Maugeri will be in that role for “several months,” and Lewis will leave his role in about three months, according to Maugeri.

Both men bought the firm in November 2000. Stevens Office Interiors started operations in 1956.

Stevens Office Interiors operates in an 18,000-square-foot space at 6804 Manlius Center Road in DeWitt. The location includes a 10,000-square-foot showroom.

Similar companies

Both FM Office Express and Stevens Office Interiors are authorized dealers for Steelcase, Inc. (NYSE: SCS), with FM already servicing both the Rochester and Albany markets.

“We’ve known each other for several years, probably 15 years,” says Maugeri. “We work together in mutual projects.”

The deal “just made sense” to allow FM Office Express to service the Syracuse market with Steelcase products as well, Maugeri adds.

Steelcase describes itself as a Grand Rapids, Michigan–based provider of “office furniture, interior architecture and space solutions for offices, hospitals and classrooms.”

Besides Stevens Office Interiors in Central New York, FM Office Express also operates Merkel Donohue, also an authorized Steelcase dealer, in the Rochester and Albany markets.

“We both wanted this to happen. It’s a good thing,” says Maugeri, referring to Morales and the acquisition.

The DeWitt business will retain the Stevens Office Interiors name, even though it’ll be legally known as FM Office Express, dba Stevens Office Interiors, according to Maugeri.

Stevens Office Interiors has about 30 full-time employees. By adding those employees, FM Office Express’s total employee count rises to more than 100 workers.

Overcoming Barriers to Charitable Estate Giving

Business Mentors, Subscriber Only

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Nearly 75 percent of high-net-worth individuals consider charity to be an important consideration in their financial and estate planning, according to a survey conducted in 2013 by U.S. Trust. This sounds like good news for charities, but the data also highlights a breakdown in action by professional advisors that can derail those good intentions. Only about half of poll respondents reported having charitable conversations with their advisors, leaving a large margin of high-net-worth clients with an important goal that their advisors are not helping them to meet.

Sometimes charity is overlooked during planning because clients and advisors have to overcome both factual and psychological stumbling blocks.

What keeps advisors from having this important conversation?

• Focus on the Technical. Even in long-term client relationships, the advisor may not have had many conversations about the client’s values and charitable interests. Some advisors focus more on the technical aspects of the planning, making it hard to move into more values-based discussions.

• Lack of Knowledge. Some advisors lack extensive training on charitable-planning techniques. Others may have learned about charitable planning at some point, but have not used their knowledge frequently enough in practice to be comfortable starting that conversation now.

• Hesitation to Engage Others. Charitable planning often requires advisors to engage with the whole family rather than just their client. This may concern some advisors seeking to have clear boundaries around who they represent in those interactions.

Oftentimes, high-net worth families put off their charitable planning due to concerns that can be surpassed with proper planning and discernment.

• Fears of the Unknown. Some fear that they might outlive their money, causing them to hesitate in taking action. Others worry they will leave their heirs with less than they intend. In reality, charitable deductions can often offset the cost of estate taxes. When planned properly, this can lead to charitable gifts being included in an estate plan without a significant (or any) reduction to what is received by heirs.

• Loss of Control. Clients sometimes feel uncertainty over what nonprofits they want to support. They do not want to choose to support an organization and then be unable to change it if their interests change. Most donors find it reassuring when asked to identify their giving interests and document the story of their life experiences as part of their estate and legacy planning process. This oftentimes leads to the development of a flexible giving plan that fits their unique characteristics and yet can be easily changed over time without needing to restructure a will.

• Family Complexity. Each client has a unique family dynamic that can sometimes make it difficult to start a conversation about giving. Through the facilitation of a family meeting, multiple generations have the opportunity to come together to connect to their shared values. Through a series of exercises, family members can identify and document those values and how they connect to their lives. In addition, the introduction of charitable tools that allow them to give together as a family gives them reassurance that they can strengthen those values now and into future generations.

To get started, we recommend partnering with a chartered advisor in philanthropy (CAP) to conduct discernment conversations with your client or family that identifies what is important to them. From there, you can share best practices for incorporating charity into their plan, which will help to address any concerns about longevity, cost, control, nonprofit uncertainty, and tax benefits.

Family wealth and legacy planning, in the words of Tom Rogerson from Wilmington Trust, requires an integrated approach that allows clients to protect and grow their money, prepares money for their family, and prepares their family for money. Philanthropy is a key factor for success in this work, because it provides a way for the family to connect around their values and work together to achieve impact.

Thomas Griffith is director of gift planning at the Central New York Community Foundation. Contact him at tgriffith@cnycf.org or (315) 883-5544.

The Values of the Family-Owned Business

Business Mentors, Subscriber Only

Family-owned businesses can excel at generating economic value by creating broad-based value for all stakeholders (not just shareholders). This includes employees, customers, and society in general. According to a PWC report: “Many of today’s most successful family businesses are extending the power of their values to benefiting others — not only their businesses and people,

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While the family-owned business has its share of challenges, it also maintains some positive qualities that are a match to today’s market, especially in the area of values. In today’s market, individuals are increasingly looking to their job to provide more than just a paycheck; they are looking for the workplace to provide a sense of meaning and purpose that matches their values. Alongside social ventures, family-owned businesses play a significant role in providing this added dimension.

Family-owned businesses tend to have unwritten values that are built-in, not bolted on, and which serve in building culture and behavior that employees can relate to and thrive within. Family business see less turnover — on average a 9 percent turnover vs. 11 percent turnover for non-family businesses. Ultimately, employees who derive meaning from their work are more than three times as likely to stay, report an increase in job satisfaction, and experience increased engagement at work. For the business a commitment to culture and values translates to customer service — take care of your employees and they will take care of your customers.

Two key values reported consistently in family businesses include resilience over performance and community connections. Both have a tie in the creation of wealth, reputation, and employee engagement and retention.

Resilience over performance

As opposed to publicly-owned enterprises which have an average CEO tenure of 6 years, family businesses, on average, have the same CEO for 20 years. While sometimes seen as a potential hindrance to innovation in family-owned businesses, it also translates to the businesses being run with a sense of stewardship and of heritage. The sense of stewardship brings management to build closer relations with employees — creating a sense of loyalty and of purpose.

While there are strong exceptions, a significant number of family-owned businesses place employees ahead of growth and shareholders. Many forgo excess returns during good times to increase the chance of survival during the difficult times. Decisions are made with a look to continuity and long-term considerations of the viability of the business, to future-proof the business. Profitability is a means to the end goal of survival in the long-term.

Community connections

Connections and support of the community provide the family-owned business with benefits outside of economic returns including bolstering reputation. In an E&Y survey, more than half of family businesses engage in community-impact investing, especially as it relates to education. Engaged owners are involved and have a social commitment to the community in which they work and live. For employees, it instills a sense of pride in the business’s contribution to the community and their part in it. This connection to the community increases the life satisfaction of employees and builds resilience.

In the end, while all businesses are guided by values, family-owned businesses have the unique capacity to authentically align with an employee’s desire for meaning in the workplace and create shared value.

Karen Livingston is a New York State certified business advisor at the Onondaga Small Business Development Center, or SBDC. Contact her at livingsk@sunyocc.edu

History from OHA: Mooo…ving Ahead! The Story of Byrne Dairy

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In January 1933, Byrne Diary (formerly the Bonnie Dale Dairy Company) was founded by local Syracusan, Matthew V. Byrne. Eighty-five years later, Byrne Diary continues to offer a variety of wholesome dairy products throughout the Northeast. Matthew Byrne located his first processing plant at 306 W. Genesee St. (located kitty corner from the current-day Dinosaur

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Matthew Byrne located his first processing plant at 306 W. Genesee St. (located kitty corner from the current-day Dinosaur Bar-B-Que). He constructed this building in 1920 and his first tenants were the Miller Tire Co. (he was a distributor for their tire line) and the Grange Federation League. When he began his dairy venture, Byrne redesigned the “Byrne Square Building”, a flat iron building noted for its ornate trim and terracotta façade, to meet his processing needs. It was bounded on all sides by large plate-glass windows that invited the general public to view the milk being pasteurized and processed. From this location, eight horse-drawn yellow and brown painted wagons distributed the milk daily throughout Syracuse and its environs.

Matthew Byrne turned the day-to-day running of the business over to his three sons — John, William, and C. Vincent — in 1946. The business continued to flourish and, in 1948, the family moved the milk plant to a larger facility located at 240 Oneida St. Milk deliveries were, by then, being made primarily by motorized vehicles, allowing the dairy to deliver its products to a wider audience more efficiently (the last horse was retired in 1952).

Byrne Dairy in 1954 decided to purchase the McMahon Dairy in Central Square. This acquisition made Byrne Dairy the third-largest dairy business in Central New York at the time and allowed the company to expand its presence into the southern portion of Oswego County as well as further facilitate its operations in the North Syracuse, Cicero, and Brewerton areas of Onondaga County. Home deliveries continued until the spring of 1977 when, due primarily to increases in gas prices, they were suspended.

Another milestone occurred in the early 1970s when the company purchased its own bulk milk tanker. Byrne Dairy was then able to pick up the milk directly from dairy farmers in the area under contract with them, thus eliminating the middleman. The company increased the size of its fleet of trucks as business demands increased. Convenience stores offering all of Byrne’s products were first built in the early 1950s, but have since expanded to include the sale of other grocery items, along with gas, in order to appeal to today’s more convenience-minded society. During the late 70s and early 80s, the business expanded to include its own brand of ice cream and butter. To remain competitive in its core business, Byrne Dairy even offered milk in diverse flavors such as strawberry and banana and green milk in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.

The business enlarged and updated its Oneida Street plant in the late 80s, allowing Byrne Dairy to increase its production by 25 percent. One of Byrne Dairy’s most innovative updates occurred in 2004 when it opened its new manufacturing plant in DeWitt. This plant was devoted to producing the company’s ultra-pasteurized products. Ultra-pasteurization extended the shelf life of dairy products to 140 days. Byrne Dairy is one of only a handful of family-owned and managed dairies to build this type of plant.

Just recently, further investment and expansion resulted in the construction of a 75,000-square-foot facility in Cortlandville. This facility is dedicated primarily to the manufacture of Byrne Hollow Farm yogurt and to promoting agri-tourism. Perhaps as a throwback to its original building, a viewing mezzanine was designed for visitors to watch the manufacturing process. Eighty five years of innovation and dedication permit the company’s slogan “Byrne Diary Milk is Mighty Fine” to continue to ring true today.

Karen Y. Cooney is support services administrator at OHA in Syracuse.

Adios California. Will the Golden State secede or split up?

Opinion, Subscriber Only

Many in upstate New York would like a split here, too Many Californians dream their State will secede from the U.S. That dream could become reality. And it might not be a bad idea. The Golden State already behaves as another country. It passes laws that spite the U.S. government. It encourages more illegal immigrants

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Many in upstate New York would like a split here, too

Many Californians dream their State will secede from the U.S. That dream could become reality. And it might not be a bad idea.

The Golden State already behaves as another country. It passes laws that spite the U.S. government. It encourages more illegal immigrants to come. The state goes to extremes to protect the many illegals who live there. It proclaims its own clean-air standards. It tells auto makers what vehicles they can and cannot market in California. The state fights the mere suggestion of tamping the flow of illegals with a wall.

Lately California has made it illegal for residents to comply with U.S. laws it doesn’t like.

The gap between California’s policies and those of the U.S. government seems to widen by the year. The state’s pastime is to file lawsuits against our federal government.

Those who favor secession remind us the state’s economy is the 7th largest in the world. They tell us California has enough population and wealth to operate as another country.

I can imagine this happening. Millions of California voters make clear they don’t think much of the rest of this country. So be it.

If California became a country I imagine it would be as benign toward the U.S. as is Canada. The border would maybe be seamless. Maybe. One problem would be that the U.S. would want to screen travelers. That is because so many people in California are there illegally.

Trade between California and the U.S. would probably not change. Some folks would rush to live in the new country. Many would depart. Beyond that, lives on both sides of the border would probably not change much. For a while, that is.

Ultimately, California the country would probably merge with Mexico. That may seem far-fetched. But consider that within a decade or so the majority of Californians will be of Hispanic origin. And if California was a new country, millions more Mexicans would surely stream into such a friendly state. Legally or illegally. California barely notices the difference.

These days the state has no problems with illegals voting. Imagine it, then, as a country. With several million more illegals — many of them voting. With a growing majority of Hispanics. If you can imagine that, you should be able to imagine majorities voting for union with Mexico. And I believe Mexico would welcome it.

There are many Californians who would prefer something different than this. They want to break the state into two or more new states. One of the new states formed would be for the extreme progressives and high-tech types — basically, urban California. Another new state formed from California would be for rural and more conservative types.

Many people in New York and Illinois push for the same. Those efforts have merit, too. Clearly, some state governments neglect many of their citizens and the areas where they live. They do so because their legislatures are top-heavy with members from heavily populated areas.

Upstate New Yorkers will raise their hands at this suggestion. Imagine Upstate as a separate state. Do you think for a moment such a state would have allowed the hallowing out of its many upstate cities and towns? That is what took place. Do you think such a state would have greeted the closing of thousands of factories with ever-higher taxes and more business-choking regulations?

The evidence is overwhelming: Downstaters could give a damn about Upstate. Downstate representatives call the shots in Albany. And they care sweet little about Upstate’s woes. If they even know where the likes of Watertown, Oswego, Utica, Jamestown, Olean, Dansville, and Norwich are located. When the governor decides to pour money into depleted Buffalo his pals line their pockets with it. And the promised jobs evaporate.

An upstate legislature would look after Upstate far better than Albany does. Just as a downstate legislature would govern Illinois with more concern than Chicago machine pols do.

Would the U.S. suffer terribly if California seceded? Probably not much. Would Californians and New Yorkers suffer if their states divided? They would likely be better off. In the remaining states as well as the new states.

I would regard such developments as signs of health. Healthy countries flex and adapt to current realities. They modify their institutions and structures — to respond to, and make the most of, significant changes in their midst. Maybe the time is ripe for this country to flex a little.

Tom Morgan writes about political, financial, and other subjects from his home near Oneonta. You can write to Tom at tomasinmorgan@yahoo.com. Read more of his writing at tomasinmorgan.com

Want to Help the World? Commit to Resolve Conflict

Opinion, Subscriber Only

In a world riven by tension, one skill stands above all others: the ability to resolve conflict. It is the paramount challenge of our time. I’ve seen first-hand its importance — in Congress as part of a legislative process that, at least at the time, was mostly focused on resolving differences, and as co-chair of

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In a world riven by tension, one skill stands above all others: the ability to resolve conflict. It is the paramount challenge of our time.

I’ve seen first-hand its importance — in Congress as part of a legislative process that, at least at the time, was mostly focused on resolving differences, and as co-chair of two key national committees that were constituted along partisan lines, the 9/11 Commission and the Iraq Study Group. Here’s what I’ve learned.

First, to resolve conflict, you have to be committed to doing just that. When the 9/11 Commission met — at a time when many people just wanted to assign blame for the attacks on our country — we were often encouraged to take a confrontational approach by issuing hundreds of subpoenas that would force officials to testify and to turn over documents. We rejected that approach. There’s an old saying, “If you want to go fast, you go alone. If you want to go far, you go together.” That was our experience.

Another key to resolving conflict involves starting with facts. Focusing on them helps the various parties — which are sometimes very far apart ideologically — find some common ground and develop a relationship that permits them to go forward.

Building on that start, it’s crucial to develop collegiality. Because if you’re serious about resolving conflict, you’ll be spending a lot of time with the people you’re dealing with — so, good communication is crucial. This does not just involve talking. It means listening, asking questions, weighing arguments and options, and probing together whether disagreements can be resolved.

Compromise is a dirty word for many people, but it’s hard to resolve conflicts without it. Trying to understand other participants’ problems — and then trying to let everybody leave having gained something — can make the difference between success and failure.

Finally, it’s important to make sure to include all the parties to a conflict and to address all the core issues — and when in doubt it’s better to include than exclude. For a resolution to be sustainable, the key players must be brought into the process and the core issues considered.

All of this takes skill, patience, and understanding. And these attributes are not as common as they should be. But developing conflict-resolution skills is worth the effort. Because if you look around, the need for them does not appear to be going away.

Lee Hamilton is a senior advisor for the Indiana University (IU) Center on Representative Government, distinguished scholar at the IU School of Global and International Studies, and professor of practice at the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Hamilton, a Democrat, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years, representing a district in south central Indiana.

LP&M Advertising

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JEFF ADKINS has been hired as a digital production specialist at LP&M Advertising in Syracuse. His background includes digital and web design, production management, pre-press, and animation. Adkins has served as an adjunct professor, won numerous photography awards, and is a graduate of SUNY Oswego with a master’s degree in web design and multimedia technology.

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