A hands-on manual for learning the leadership skills that take you beyond compromise to higher ground. In this visionary book, the authors present their challenging, innovative and principled approach to problem solving within groups. Reaching for Higher Ground is filled with the practical information and illustrative examples that group leaders and conflict resolution leaders would need to achieve extraordinary outcomes with any group.
"If the world will be transformed through the actions and commitments of individual groups,which I believe to be true, this book teaches how to bring those groups into being and how to help them become both powerful and caring." (Peter Block, author of Stewardship: Choosing Service Over Self–Interest and Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used)
"Anyone who works with people–and that means all of us–should read this book. For educators, Reaching for Higher Ground offers crucial lessons to support consensus, community building, and lasting change within classrooms, in school decision–making bodies, and in the policy making by state and local school boards. This book could move us beyond the dance of the dichotomies that so often sidetracks meaningful reforms to a higher ground that focuses on the needs of children and the right to learn." (Linda Darling Hammond, author of The Right to Learn)
"Have you worked with a group that just wasn′t working? Where unspoken rules kept the group from making progress? This book helps break through old uncomfortable ways of relating in organizations and groups, committees and families." (Sally Herndon Malek, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services)
"Thoughtful reflections and practical tools dot the landscape of this well–organized, wise, and refreshing book. . . . for anyone who plans, conducts or participates in any kind of meeting where time is precious and the outcomes matter to those involved." (Laura Chasin, director, Public Conversations Project, Watertown, Massachusetts)
"This is a valuable resource for people of faith who honor one another across differences and who want to live together faithfully, deeply, and lovingly. The authors beckon us beyond `common ground′ to `higher ground′." (Bishop Marion Edwards, North Carolina Conference, United Methodist Church)
"Reaching for Higher Ground educates and inspires...an invitation to be at our best in group discussions–to affirm the dignity of each participant, to respect diversity, and to encourage healthy and vigorous discussions. The authors provide a toolbox well stocked with practical methods for engaging in constructive, principled meetings. For the non–professional and professional alike, this book provides a wealth of relevant and highly valuable ideas about seeking excellence in ourselves and in our discussions." (Michael Lang – editor, Mediation Quarterly)
