Bernadette BoasExecutive Leadership Coach, Trainer and Speaker, Ball of Fire Coaching · Become the Leader Everyone Wants to Follow and No One Can Overlook.

Leaders Solve Disputes By Asking Tough Questions!

28 Jun 2026 · 2 min

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2:08

In this segment, the speaker outlines a mediation framework built around four core principles—Confidentiality, Control, Creativity, and Certainty—collectively known as the "4 C's". While confidentiality and control have been previously covered, the focus here is on the Creativity component. The speaker contrasts the limited, often monetary‑only outcomes of judges or arbitrators with the broader, flexible solutions a mediator can craft. Examples include handling discrimination or harassment cases, trade‑secret and non‑compete disputes, and employment separations where non‑monetary terms such as reference letters, communication of departure, and oversight mechanisms between competing firms are negotiated. The speaker emphasizes that mediators can achieve soft‑landing outcomes, preserving control for the parties and addressing issues that courts cannot, thereby delivering more comprehensive and tailored resolutions.

Chapters

When I say you are in control, there's 4 C's of mediation that I talk about, right? There's confidentiality, there is control, there's creativity, and there's certainty. Some people say cost-effectiveness as well, but that's sort of a given. Confidentiality I've already spoken about, control I've already spoken about. The creativity part of it is this, right? A judge or an arbitrator really has 2 options. They're gonna pick a winner and a loser, right? And usually it's around money. Usually it's a dollar that is awarded or not. Sometimes it's injunctive relief where they can order you not to do something. But within the context of a conversation that, especially with corporate executives, oftentimes it's not only money. You mentioned discrimination or harassment cases, for example. I've mentioned trade secret cases and some non-compete situations. Sometimes it's not only money. Sometimes it's the soft landing. You get to maintain control, right? And you can negotiate through a mediator the aspects of a resolution that are non-monetary as well. And a judge or an arbitrator cannot address these things. So for example, oftentimes in employment disputes, the resolution may include not just, you know, a monetary payment, but it may include certain references in your employment file or how, your departure from the company may be communicated outside of the organization or even inside of the organization. It may include things like if it's between competitors or issues where an employee has left one company and gone to another company and there are restrictive covenants like confidentiality or non-solicitation, and there's a fear that that might be— those covenants might be breached either directly or indirectly, then you can have a conversation about how you're going to manage and oversee that between the two companies. And the list can go on and on and on.