Featured Cheetah
In each issue, Cheetah News
features an individual who shares his or her ideas,
insight, and experience with Cheetah Learning's
Methodology.
Putting Theory into Practice,
with Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm can be
elusive, especially when you’re trying to make it
part of a project team or a classroom. So Professor
Rich Benedetto was excited when he found the perfect
book to bring it into the Conflict Management course
he teaches through the University System of New
Hampshire. Rich, the associate dean of graduate
programs at Endicott College in Beverly, Mass., knew
that “Cheetah Negotiations” (Michelle LaBrosse and
Linda Lansky) was the book for his
class.
“This particular
course at Granite State College in New Hampshire
focuses on negotiation issues, managing conflict and
negotiating conflict,” Rich explains. “I use a
number of materials, including books and articles,
but when I read ‘Cheetah Negotiations,’ I knew it
would be at the forefront of my class.”
In addition to
case studies and other reading assignments, Rich had
his students read “Cheetah Negotiations” and asked
them to identify the major concepts and principles,
the strengths and weaknesses, and ways to apply
those principles. “I think what made the book such a
hit with the class was that it wasn’t just theory,
as so many other books are,” Rich explains. “My
students could relate to the real-life situations
Michelle used throughout the book. And they found it
very easy to read.”
As a final-paper
assignment, Rich had his students choose a major
conflict in their business or personal life and
personally apply the concepts from the class to
resolve that conflict. They also did class
presentations based on their papers and identified
the principles that helped them achieve resolution.
“All of my
students quoted references from the ‘Cheetah
Negotiations’ book, and most of their presentations
focused entirely on that book rather than on the
other material from the class,” Rich says. “They
told me they’d gotten more out of this class than
any other they have ever had.”
In fact, half the students were so enthused over
this course, they signed up to take another class
Rich is teaching this month. “I’d love to take all
the credit, but I know the ‘Cheetah Negotiations’
book is what generated much of their enthusiasm.”
Rich doesn’t mind sharing the success, though, and
he plans to continue to use “Cheetah Negotiations”
in his Conflict Management course. After all, once
you know how to encourage enthusiasm, you just have
to continue cultivating it.
I
use a number of materials, including books and articles,
but when I read 'Cheetah Negotiations,' I knew it would
be at the forefront of my class.