Mediation
Restoring partnership after rupture.
Executive mediation for senior leaders, partnerships, and teams when the relationship has stalled, broken, or stopped producing the work it used to.
Exclusive U.S. partner of the Academy of Executive Coaching.
What it is
A facilitated process — not arbitration, not HR investigation, not peace-keeping.
When two senior leaders, a leadership team, or a working partnership reaches the point where conversation has stopped — where the work itself has stalled because the relationship can't carry it — mediation provides a structured way back.
Mediation is one of SPARC's four engagement modes. It is bilateral, governed by the parties themselves, and led by a SPARC partner who has no stake in the outcome and full confidentiality across the process. The mediator does not investigate, arbitrate, or recommend. The work is to make the conversation possible again, and to let working agreements emerge from the parties.
Led by Dr. Mathew Johnson, Ph.D., PCC and Dr. Shannon O'Neill, Ph.D., PCC — both former Deans at Brown University, both ICF PCC-credentialed coaches with two decades of practice in higher education, foundations, and nonprofits.
How it works
Four phases, run end to end by the same SPARC partner.
Step 01
Consultation
Initial conversation with the sponsor or both parties to confirm fit and intent.
Step 02
Individual Intakes
Confidential 1:1 sessions with each party. Listening, not problem-solving.
Step 03
Facilitated Dialogue
Joint sessions where working agreements emerge from the parties themselves.
Step 04
Follow-Up
Check-in sessions to verify the agreements hold under real conditions.
When to consider it
Mediation fits when there's a real working relationship to restore.
Senior partnership broken
Two leaders whose work depends on each other but who no longer speak directly.
Team trust eroded
A leadership team after restructuring, loss, or public dispute.
Sponsor-commissioned
When the institution sponsors mediation for two of its reports.
Where the stakes are real.