Remember ADRg Ambassadors, a unique new British mediation and consultancy panel launched earlier this year?

We are whirring away to excellent effect. Yesterday we were in Geneva giving a goodly number of international organisations some ‘taster’ training sessions to show the ADRg Ambassadors house-style, with a special focus this time on mediation training.

Most people are at best dimly aware of the range and weight of international bodies based in Geneva.

Some are parts of the UN family, others not. Some (eg the International Telecommunication Union) have their main effort concentrated in Geneva itself. Others (eg the International Organization for Migration) have several hundred offices round the world, often in tough locations.

Most, in one way or the other, are in the grips of ‘organisational change’ and associated international and/or internal politicking – the choice of people for top jobs often generates intense controversy, with eg North v South rivalries vociferously to the fore.

Not surprisingly HR and professional development requirements vary enormously. But, as if by magic, the suite of training themes (deliverable in formal training mode, less formal seminars or even personal coaching) offered by ADRg Ambassadors offered them all something they could not easily get elsewhere.

The USP of ADRg Ambassadors training is simple.

We are – as far as anyone can tell – the only group in the world offering the high-level experience/insight drawn from accumulated decades of hard diplomatic experience combined with the special ‘people skills’ acquired by professional diplomatic training. The training model draws on the intense ‘listening’ techniques taught by the Regent’s College School of Psychotherapy and Counselling Psychology.

This training approach complements our offerings on Diplomatic Skills and Crisis Management where, again, we convey high-end wisdom and operational effectiveness: it’s not enough to be right – you have to be convincing.

These days a painstakingly crafted policy can crash almost before it is announced because of clumsy media handling or a poor speech to launch it. Yet vital communication and media skills needed by people in the field and at HQ alike are just not taught. Ha.

Anyway, our presentations seemed to go down well with the assembled IOs, whose training often consists of the accumulated professional experience of stale and didactic trainers, not of practitioners who have reached the heights of the diplomatic profession and learned the hard way how to make things happen – and how leadership works from the inside.

In short, this innovative new venture is taking off in a strong and purposeful way. Good.

If any readers out there know of significant problems which might benefit from a new subtle approach, or have unusual institutional problems where unusual senior training or a thoughtful change of attitude could make a real difference, you know what to do.

Just get in touch.