About Resolution Works

Resolution Works is a consulting and training organization dedicated to providing skills and ways of thinking needed to build strong organizational cultures in all types of working environments. It is also a public resource for individuals, and organizations who wish to create powerful, sustainable collaborations and partnerships. This website provides a variety of instructional methods in a wide variety of media formats. Please be sure to signup for the newsletter to receive updates on services, courses, speaking engagements, new resources, and much more. Become part of a growing and thriving community!

Join “The Resolutionary” Newsletter

About Stewart Levine

Stewart Levine is the founder of ResolutionWorks. Stewart is a “Resolutionary”, Counselor, Mediator, Facilitator, Trainer, Author and widely recognized for creating agreement and empowerment in the most challenging circumstances. He improves productivity while saving the enormous cost of conflict. His innovative work with Agreements for Results and his Resolutionary conversational models are unique. As a practicing lawyer he realized that fighting was a very ineffective way of resolving problems. As a marketing executive for AT&T he saw that the reason collaborations fall apart is that people do not spend the time at the beginning of new working relationships to create clarity about what they want to accomplish together, and how they will get there. This is true for employment relationships, teams, joint ventures and all members of any virtual team. His conversational models create Agreements for Results, and a quick return to productivity when working relationships break down. His models for problem solving, collaboration and conflict resolution are used in many Fortune 100 Organizations and have been endorsed by countless thought leaders including the House Judiciary Committee; 3M; American Express; Chevron; Con-Agra; EDS; General Motors; Harvard Law School; Oracle; Safeco; University of San Francisco; U.S. Departments of Agriculture; Navy and many others.

He teaches communication and conflict management skills for The American Management Association, CEO Space and the International Partnering Institute. He is a lecturer at the University of California Berkeley Law School and the MBA program at Dominican University of California. Stewart was recently inducted into the College of Law Practice Management.

Stewart is available for speaking and teaching in a variety of ways. Since the content is universal, he speaks before many industry groups, government agencies and non-profits in a variety of formats from keynotes to two and three day experiential learning programs or leadership retreats.

 

Latest Book

The Best Lawyer You Can Be: A Guide to Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Wellness

The Best Lawyer You Can Be: A Guide to Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual WellnessIt’s no secret that individual lawyers are under siege in a profession with a high incidence of stress, divorce, substance abuse, and suicide. In this groundbreaking multi-dimensional collection, you can find tools and information that enable you to have both a successful career and a happy, satisfied life. These tools will teach you how to harness the transformative power of being more relational and less transactional.

Purchase Now!


 

Publications

GettingGetting to Resolution: Turning Conflict into Collaboration, was an Executive Book Club Selection; Featured by Executive Book Summaries; named one of the 30 Best Business Books of 1998; and called ?a marvelous book? by Dr. Stephen Covey. It has been translated into Russian, Hebrew and Portuguese. His chapter ?Cycle of Resolution? was selected for inclusion in the ?Change Handbook, 2d Edition.? Most approaches to conflict resolution and negotiation result in just temporary settlement, compromise, or capitulation. This book offers new principles and new tools to show how to get to real, lasting resolution of any kind of personal, business, organizational, or community conflict. Read more about this book from the publisher …

Stewart Levine-The Book of Agreement- 10 Essential Elements for Getting the Results You WantThe Book of Agreement: 10 Essential Elements for Getting the Results You Want, has been endorsed by many thought leaders. It has been hailed as ?more practical? than the classic ?Getting to Yes? and named one of the best books of 2003. It shows how to design agreements collaboratively to reflect a clear joint vision of the desired outcome and produce results. The Book of Agreement provides ten powerful tools for creating successful agreements together. These tools help both parties clarify expectations, establish standards, and build partnership. Also included are more than 25 agreement templates that cover all areas of life. Read more about this book …

Collaboration 2.0 Technology and Best Practices for Successful Collaboration in a Web 2.0 World by David Coleman & Stewart Levine. Foreword by Jessica Lipnack and Jeffrey StampsCollaboration 2.0: Technology and Tools for Collaboration in a Web 2.0 World, co-authored with David Coleman provides guidance for effectively communicating in the virtual world. The book is most beneficial for teams, groups, departments, cross-organizational teams and distributed organizations that are looking at some of the Web 2.0 technologies focused on communication, collaboration and interaction. The Authors’ Goals are to help you grasp the full array of tools available. If you use any type of collaboration technology from IM/Chat to a virtual team space, this book will help develop competence, and capacity as conscious communicators and collaborative process designers.

  • Thank you Stewart.  I received so many positive comments from our team about how great the training was.  We walked away with practical approaches to help us improve our communication patterns and enhance our problem solving skills. Thank you for the wonderful time, content and context to grow. Jody Graf, Executive Director, Visions in Education Charter School

  • This has been an amazing journey of self discovery through the mirror reflection of other. Stewart, your workshop has assisted me in having a deeper understanding and a greater excitement in becoming pro-active in the development of what I want to create in my life, and knowing that it is not cast in concrete.–Donna Stone

  • Thank you so much for your incredible tool for understanding relationships and facilitating agreements, Your, 10 Parts of an Agreement is brilliant! In just a few minutes we can cut through all the fog and get real clarity on key issues. Like do we even want to work together? what are our intentions? What should we expect with regards to Roles, Promises, Milestones, Time & Money, and Concerns & Fears. Your model allows us to build a stronger relationships and continuously increase effectiveness. And by using the 10 Parts of an Agreement all of our agreements, relationships and contracts have greater relevancy and value.–Bill Rowland, Founder, HouseCraft Technologies

  • Stewart creates agreement and empowerment. He models what he teaches. He is a powerful educator.–Else Tomayo, Personnel Director, University of San Francisco

  • You are getting high praise from all quarters, even from the hard-to-please state bureaucrats. Thanks for your good work and being the kind of professional I can count on to bring out the best in people. You helped to surface some old, old wounds that had scarred over without healing. I feel much more optimistic about the project, but also about all of our shared work with the district staff. You are an extraordinary facilitator. You resolve issues that stifle productivity and create partnership where everyone thought it was impossible.–Gail Johnson, Sierra Adoption Services

  • The model transcends all lines of management. I have seen my direct reports become empowered as they have input into their work. Stewart Levine has developed an important innovation.–Jan Gould, Membership Director, Visa USA.

  • We’re forging a unique organization based on shared goals and objectives, mutual trust and affection. We’ve made real progress in improving teamwork and communication. We are recognizing conflicts and how to resolve them.Mark Jansen, CEO, Real Estate [/client_name

  • A whole new insight into conflict management and core conversational skills. This is a valuable contribution to personal and organizational development.–Tim Reeves, Manager of BusinessEducation, Nestle Beverage

  • I learned: 1.) that conflict is not a bad thing and can be used to create a better environment if managed properly; 2.) that everyone deals with conflict differently; and 3.) how to keep a cool head and solve problems in an efficient manner.–Janet Anderson

  • The subject matter of your presentation and the thought-provoking interaction required during your sessions will be resources used by attendees throughout their careers. –Robert Rigsby, Esq; Corporate Counsel, District of Columbia

  • An outstanding training presentation.–Jeff Knishkowy, Director of Conflict Prevention and Resolution, USDA

  • Your workshop on Agreements and Conflict Resolution is a powerful learning experience. I am using your model in many business situations. It is very useful for teaming and managing client relationships and negotiating large sales or contracts.–TG Struttman, Caterpillar Inc,OC

  • If your goal is to learn new skills consider Levine’s course.–San Francisco Recorder

  • Stewart has developed models for conflict resolution that could revolutionize the way we speak, communicate and settle our differences.–Dan Corsello, Director, Napa County Health and Human Services

  • A visionary is someone who thinks. A Resolutionary is someone that thinks and implements a plan to make positive change. The world can only be changed and improved when people take the time and energy to make things happen. You are making a difference. –Mitch Markota, US Naval Air Station, China Lake

  • We have been seeing each other since we met in your workshop 6 weeks ago. Though we live 60 miles apart, no conflicts have arisen to resolve, just plenty of open communications, shared vision and flowing bliss. A graceful side benefit of your powerful intentions, Stewart, and the peace-full work environment you create. Thanks.–Workshop Participant

  • Your techniques can be used to prevent healthy, creative tension from escalating into conflict.–Charlie Stein, NSA

  • The balanced approach that your model suggests is what I believe creates the possibility of long term resolution, the ability to shift conflict into collaboration. Thank you for shifting my thinking in a way that will allow me to more fully bring myself, my training, and experience to the field of mediation.–Bill Zybach, USDA

  • I enjoyed your message of expediency and the ways to avoid the waste of organizational resources.–Terry Rielly, Swenson Spreader

  • Stewart, it has been invaluable to have worked with you and learned the agreement process. It is a great foundation for both business and personal relationships. It guide you to a clear vision of where you are going and helps answer the question of whether, and how far you can trust the people you want to work with. Expressing fears and concerns before moving forward is especially useful. Resolving concerns provides a peaceful place to start from that is very empowering. The process will be a powerful tool to create from for the rest of my life. I am very grateful.–Rebecca Hubbel, Entrepreneur

  • The model provides a helpful road map in dealing with difficult internal office relationships, disputes, personnel problems.–Stefan Rosensweig, Esq., Executive Director, Public Advocates, Inc.

  • Judy and I really enjoyed your class and we’re really enjoying working through conflicts with your model. The few days we spent in the group were extraordinary; we thought about creating agreements at a depth we’d never experienced before. We have already short circuited recurring arguments by crafting agreements like we learned to do in the seminar. Thank you again for bringing the distinction of agreement to our relationship.Bennett Hirschorn, Esq.,IBM[/client_name

  • Thank you for presenting such an excellent program to the Defense Research Institute. You lead a roomful of legal know-it-alls to a fool proof technique for avoiding the unnecessary communication problems.. I find I am getting along better at the office with staff, at home with my teenagers, and at the courthouse with clients and adversaries alike. Thank you so much for sharing your insight and wisdom.–F.Ford Loker, Esq., Maryland State DRI Representative

  • Stewart, Thanks again for the excellent training you provided last week at HON-RP. It was a pleasure to meet you. I believe this content was wonderful and will help the folks here. Stewart well done! I will implement your suggestions and continue the progress. Barbara ? this training could benefit all RPs in SAN-DO.–Thanks again for the support. Brett Podoski, Post Manager, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

  • Thank you for the amazing seminar. I truly believe that I am a better person for having met and learned from you.–Kristen M. Molina VP, McLaughlin Associates