Mediation training equips Army captain for call of duty

Faced with delicate situations in war zones as an Army captain, Andrew Taylor draws on what he has learnt in his studies at Massey University.

The 27-year-old serving soldier graduates today with a Graduate Diploma in Business Studies majoring in dispute resolution at the Wellington ceremony.

He says not only has he used the negotiation skills he has learnt to successfully resolve an international dispute over the use of culturally sensitive land, but in the day-to-day running of operations.

“When you are working with overseas cultures you have got to understand their point of view,” he says. “I have learnt to approach situations differently. To talk with people about how to solve the issue and note their reactions rather than a confrontational approach.”

He says for Army personnel posted overseas, it is not just about peacekeeping or fighting but living in the community, and having negotiation skills is useful in day-to-day living. “Everything you do – from securing supplies, food and accommodation through to building construction and dealing with contractors – involves negotiation.”

Captain Taylor, originally from Dunedin, is based at Burnham and combines his work as a lawyer in the Army with distance learning in the University’s College of Business, completing two papers per semester. He has been posted around the world and has sat exams and completed assignments in Australia, East Timor, Singapore and the United Kingdom. “Massey is very supportive of the fact I have work commitments,” says Captain Taylor, who will use his new skills when he serves in Afghanistan this year.

Despite the challenges, he won two of the awards at the recent College of Business prizegiving. He was awarded the Thomson Reuters Prize in Arbitration for the best student and the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand prize for the top student in the Graduate Diploma in Business Studies endorsed in Dispute Resolution.

Virginia Goldblatt, director of the University’s Dispute Resolution Centre, says Captain Taylor represents the very best of the modern Army. “He is analytical and really sophisticated in his thinking,” she says.

He was involved in the Army’s Christchurch relief effort as police liaison helping to coordinate the military support to the relief effort, and the running of the cordons.

His wife, Casey Taylor, graduated from Massey last year with a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration and has just commenced a Masters in Management. “I am also thankful for the support from my wife,” he says. “Dispute resolution is as applicable in everyday life as it is in a war zone.”