A Case for the Mediator Model of Leadership Human beings today live in an interconnected world a global village a community linked by telecommunication Information travel in modern times competes with the speed of light and news cycles have steadily become shorter and shorter While there are several highlights to the phenomenon of interconnectivity it has also created an increased awareness of the differences in ideologies cultures and traditions Conflict is constantly on the rise and the need for true leaders in today's world could not be overemphasized However leadership is a learned skill and not everyone is equipped to handle the burdens that come with the privilege to lead Every one of us deal with conflict on a constant basis from the disagreements of opinion of strategy roles and policy in the workplace to the feuds we face at home between acquaintances friends and family members parents and children husbands and wives etc Conflict is always with us and has the potential to lead to extremely volatile situations How we deal with it is essential to the outcome it could lead to inefficiency and chaos at the workplace and breakdown in communication and trust on the home front and elsewhere Kevin Kruse defined Leadership as a process of social influence which maximizes the efforts of others towards the achievement of a goal Kruse s definition presupposes that the success of a leader lies not in the leader but in the ability of the leader to magnify the efforts those he or she is charged to lead Mediation provides an avenue and a forum for practicalizing the above definition
