| Thomas Gordon
(1918 - 2002)
Dr. Thomas Gordon spent more than 50 years teaching parents,
teachers and leaders the model he developed for building
effective relationships. His model was based on a strong belief
that the use of coercive power damages relationships. As an
alternative, he taught people skills for communicating and
resolving conflicts that they can use to build and maintain good
relationships at home, school and at work. These skills, which
include Active Listening, I-Messages and No-Lose Conflict
Resolution, are now widely known and used by people around the
world. He first applied some of these methods in the 1950s as a
consultant to business organizations. Then, in the early 60s, he
developed the Parent Effectiveness Training course - commonly
known as P.E.T. - and taught the first class to a group of 14
parents in a Pasadena, CA cafeteria. The courses proved to be so
popular with parents that he began training instructors
throughout the U.S. to teach it in their communities. Over the
next several years, the course spread to all 50 states.
In 1970 Dr. Gordon wrote Parent
Effectiveness Training
(P.E.T.), a book which gave many more parents access to this new
parenting philosophy. As a result, people in many parts of the
world became interested in making the program available in their
countries. To date, the P.E.T. book (revised in 2000) has been
published in 33 languages and sold over five million copies.
Over a million people have participated in the course in 40
countries around the world. Because he saw that the same model
applied to all kinds of relationships, he wrote books
specifically for teachers (Teacher Effectiveness Training)
and leaders (Leader Effectiveness Training) and designed
programs based on these books. Over 200,000 teachers have
participated in the T.E.T. program and hundreds of U.S. and
international corporations offer L.E.T. to their leaders and
managers.
In recognition of his contributions to the betterment of
humanity, Dr. Gordon was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in
1997, 1998 and 1999. In addition, both the American
Psychological Foundation and the California Psychological
Association presented him with lifetime achievement awards. Gordon
Training International, the
company he founded in 1974, continues his work. |
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