Gini Nelson's Training, Consulting & Coaching Testomonials Page

Robert Houston, Attorney/Mediator Victoria, TX
My initial interest in working with you was in the spirituality emphasis of the St. Malo ADR Retreat Conference. Then, that first evening when I had a chance to meet you personally and we sat and talked, within a half hour I saw your passion for what you are doing, and I knew you were a person I wanted to work with.

Conflict resolution is what I’m moving into, after a long, successful career as a litigator. At this time, however, I want new approaches to how to think about conflict and about how to work with people in conflict situations. I get both from you.

What I most appreciate about working with you is the combination of what you have – your intellectual capacity for what you offer, and your passion for what you are doing. What you do is important, and you do it as a calling, not as a job.

I most value your honesty. It’s what I look for first in people I work with. I know you will tell me the truth about what is right, and what is wrong, in what I’m doing. You are open and straight forward about yourself and I trust you will be with me, too.

Our first meeting was pivotal. Within a half hour of our talking, you were sharing your passion for the work you do. Because of your openness and passion, I knew I could trust and believe you and what you offer.

As a result of our working together, I am more open to how people are different, and am more aware that understanding their differences is important in working with them.

I would absolutely recommend you to others, and without reservation. You have both the intellectual capacity and commitment to what you are doing, to be relied on.

Your haiku exercise the first evening of the St. Malo ADR Retreat Conference was amazing! I had never written a poem before in my life. It made such an impression on me that I woke up at 6 a.m. and wrote another haiku in my room in my skivvies!

It's important to me that you are an experienced, practicing attorney. As a lawyer, I am trained to think a certain way. In moving into conflict resolution, I have to learn a whole new way of thinking about people, problems and issues. Your experience as an attorney allows you to bridge what is normally a wide understanding gap between the two disciplines. Because of your legal expertise, you and I can speak the same language, while you teach me a new one.

Until this past year, my exposure to attorneys, especially in a seminar or learning situation, had been exclusively one of being taught how to get the upper hand in dealing with others, whether it be in persuading a jury of your position, or negotiating a settlement. It had always been about winning. It was a totally new revelation to find a lawyer who did not see the world in the simple terms of winning and losing, but rather in the more complex terms of conflict resolution. It is surprising to me that you, as an attorney, know and pursue what you offer, but pleasantly so.

The kind of training and consulting you do are absolutely helpful to attorneys who are not mediators. Even if one's world revolves around winning and losing, it is always helpful to have insights into how other people react or reason in response to conflict. Your skills in understanding and teaching principles of conflict resolution are helpful to any person who has to deal with conflict.

As a law student, I wish I had known the idea that conflict resolution is not just about winning and losing, but rather about problem solving. Also, your insight into how people actually process information and react to conflict was something I simply had never considered before working with you.

Knowledge of the parties' MBTI types is very important to me as a mediator. Your training in this area is extremely important in highlighting the different ways we process informatioin and deal with conflict. As a mediator, that is probably the most important insight I need in trying to help people move beyond conflict.

Barbara Ann Michael, Attorney/Mediator Santa Fe, NM
I learned so much from your presentation …. It was very well organized, very well presented, very sequential, done in a way where everyone could understand. I wanted to compliment you on that and thank you.