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How well do you deal with conflict? How well does your organization deal with conflict?
Unhealthy conflict is a major disruption in many businesses today. Whether your organization is large or small, negative feelings can take a toll on your personal life and your productivity at work.
The world is more complex than ever. Change is accelerated. Corporate cultures are more diverse. Differences in perspective abound between incumbent leaders and emerging leaders. These factors are loaded with conflict potential and can become significant leadership stressors. But, conflict does not have to be a destructive force. Healthy conflict can become your greatest leadership development opportunity. Constructive conflict resolution builds a stronger leadership culture and increases the problem solving capacity of your team.
InitiativeOne transforms leaders and their organizations, helping them foster high impact work cultures defined by authenticity, transparency, safe environments and deep respect.
As a leader, your ability to model effective conflict management is one of the most significant contributions you can deliver. Failure to do so will have a direct negative impact on your ability to fulfill your mission. When conflict is ignored or handled in an inappropriate manner, it is toxic to vision, values, and goals. There are three keys to effective conflict resolution: (1) Recognize
Conflict Behaviors, (2) Learn to
Depersonalize Conflict, and (3) Create a
Conflict Positive Environment.
Recognize Conflict Behaviors.
One of the best ways to resist reacting on a purely emotional level is to learn to identify typical responses and understand which ones are more or less effective. Most behavior in conflict situations is less than stellar. We tend to avoid, attack or simply compromise in order to push aside discomfort. While compromising is not the worst choice, it falls short of a tremendous leadership development opportunity. The best way www.initiative-one.com 1.602.374.8990

to harness the value of conflict is to engage in open and honest communication, focus on the issue and collaborate.
Depersonalize Conflict.
The second step is to learn to depersonalize conflict. Choosing an effective behavior means choosing to avoid personalizing conflict. Healthy conflict stays within the boundaries of the issue. Unhealthy conflict increases defensiveness and blaming. We can describe the difference in terms of whether the conflict is “taskfocused” or “person-focused”.
3.
Create a Conflict Positive
Environment.
Finally, The benefits of a leadership plan to deal with conflict reach beyond one specific conflict situation. The goal is to create a healthy leadership culture. A healthy leadership culture is a “conflict positive environment”. The fundamental goal of any leader seeking to use conflict productively involves the creation of an atmosphere that encourages open, frank and even critical disagreement without fear of repercussion. A safe environment allows for disagreement while holding in check the tendency to “lash out” and become defensive.
Much of your time will be spent with conflict situations. Many leaders view conflict as a necessary evil to be avoided at all costs. As a result, external issues translate into internal stress.
Without a plan to deal with conflict in a healthy manner, there is no avenue to release that stress in a healthy way. On the other hand, you can embrace conflict situations as growth opportunities.
Maintaining a healthy perspective toward conflict is only the beginning. As you practice collaborative conflict resolution, you will be building a constructive environment for future growth. By partnering with others in the process, you will encourage mutual leadership development. Step by step, you are modeling the way for a positive culture change in your organization.
InitiativeOne is a high level strategic counseling and leadership development resource that has been in business since
1999. Founded by Dr. Fred Johnson , the firm improves the performance and effectiveness of leaders and organizations by helping them break through the barriers that hold them back. Our clients range in size from small family-owned organizations to
Fortune 500 companies. www.initiative-one.com 1.602.374.8990