Positive Conflict?
Kelly Riggs
If you participate in a few workplace meetings, you will eventually experience one in which there is some level of conflict. Assumptions will be challenged. Tough questions will be asked. Standard, non-responsive answers will not be accepted. People will disagree on key points. I'm sure we have all been in those meetings.
I talked about a meeting like this recently with a good friend. He said, "I came out of that meeting thinking 'what a great meeting, we really pushed the organization forward.'" What he discovered later was that the person leading the meeting was not quite as thrilled - he felt criticized and attacked.
Managers should keep in mind that people deal with conflict in a number of ways, and some are more productive than others. As a leader of a department or company, a great manager should create an environment where employees feel comfortable voicing dissent or differing opinions. Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, says this:
“Yes, leadership is about vision, but leadership is equally about creating a climate where the truth is heard and the brutal facts confronted.”
The great managers I have known don't like conflict or relish disagrement. They don't enjoy criticism any more than you or I. They do, however, see "conflict" as a necessary part of moving an organization forward.
Over the years I have learned that different personality styles will deal with conflict, or change, much differently. In the eyes of certain personality styles, change and conflict are often synonymous! They perceive that attempting to change the way something is currently being done is to criticize the individual who is responsible. Certain personality styles not only dislike change but they will run as fast as possible from even the appearance of conflict.
At the same time, there are other personality types that are constantly looking to make changes; they see the environment as something to be changed in a constant pursuit of improvement and they will not hesitate to question the status quo. If this person is an employee and the person described above is the manager, there will almost certainly be problems, unless one or both understands the different perspectives on change and conflict, and adjusts to the those perspectives.
If you manage people and want to get the most out of the people that you lead, you have to be willing to allow your ideas to be open to examination. Change your perspective on this aspect of your managerial role and view "conflict" as a positive force that will often your organization or department forward.
Kelly Riggs is the founder and president of Vmax Performance Group, a performance improvement and leadership development company located in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Widely recognized as a powerful speaker and dynamic trainer, Kelly is a management consultant and Registered Corporate Coach whose passion and talent is developing people-focused leaders and high-performance salespeople. His first book, entitled 1-on-1 Management™: What Every Great Manager Knows That You Don't, will be released in January 2008. Visit www.vmaxpg.com or contact him at kelly@vmaxpg.com.
