The Approaching Conflict

Tuesday, 02. September 2008 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

“Conflict Leadership” is the art of enabling a group to explore the differences that have created a conflict - and then build a process to move beyond the conflict effectively. To do this a leader must understand that a conflict is an opportunity, rather than a problem to be avoided.  In The Magic of Conflict, Thomas Crum writes:

“Conflict is neutral; neither positive nor negative, it just is. Nature uses conflict as its primary motivator for change, creating beautiful beaches, canyons, mountains, and pearls. It’s not whether you have conflict in your life; it is what you do with that conflict that makes a difference.

“In addition, Conflict is not a contest. Winning and losing are goals for games, but not for a conflict – instead learning, growing, and cooperating are the desired outcomes… Conflict is rarely about who is right.  It is about the acknowledgment and appreciation of different experiences, perspectives, and possibilities.”

In high performance organizations, people are continually working to resolve the ongoing conflict between the past (which defines the organization’s current behavior and performance) and the vision of what still could be.  In this process of pushing for growth, conflict is bound to emerge as individuals struggle and disagree over ways to solve an issue, deal with communication, and make final decisions regarding how to move the organization forward.

To help navigate conflict, a leader should:

1) Value, and Steer, the Energy – Conflict inevitably produces energy. A leader must control and balance this energy within him/her self – and then appreciate, and steer, the energy conflict creates in others.

2) Seek and Gain Understanding – “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” A leader must carefully oversee, nurture and protect the communication process between individuals, groups, and the organization.

3) Create and Adhere to a Process - Before progress can be made in moving beyond a conflict, the parties must agree to the process they will follow to move past the confusion and toward a solution. The leader’s role is to help build a process that will allow the individuals, or group, move through the conflict in a healthy way.

4) Promote Mutual Benefit – Each individual has a style when dealing with conflict. Some “Avoid,” others “Compete,” some “Compromise,” others “Accommodate” while other “Collaborate.”

A leader should help individuals transcend their “natural” style and work toward a collaborative, win-win perspective, which meets the needs of each party. This requires an “abundance” mindset that allows everyone to move toward the best solution for everyone involved.

5) Clarify Responsibility and Accountability – This is the last critical element in leading conflict. Developing and growing beyond a conflict requires committed action and follow-through.  Where individuals make commitments, and then are held accountable to make progress toward those commitments.