In Conflict

Copyright © 2004 by Don Blohowiak
Don@LeadWell.com   www.LeadWell.com

 
To live is to be in conflict.

There are four basic types of conflict:

1. Positive Irritation. Productive conflict that gets you started on making worthwhile improvements (e.g., valid complaints from customers or employees; the unease you feel from knowing there is a better way to do what you're trying to do).
   
   
2. Crossed Swords. Counterproductive conflict born of a misunderstanding, an uncooperative attitude, a power struggle, a personality clash....
   
   
3. Agitating Conflict. You are the source of non-productive conflict that you instigate for your own personal needs (such as getting attention, settling a score, or maybe just for the entertainment value that breaks a boring routine).
   
   
4. Conflict-in-Waiting. You need to create "constructive conflict" but avoid doing so (because: it is uncomfortable; the timing doesn't feel right; you don't want to stir things up or offend anyone...).

ACTION to Take

• Look at the conflicts you find yourself in -- or need to create, both on and off the job.
  
  
• Identify which are constructive and which are not.
  
  
• Honestly assess your own contribution to each conflict. It's somewhere between 1-percent and 100-percent, but it's certainly not zero!
  
  
• Resolve to eliminate, reduce, or turn-positive the conflicts you're in or avoiding.
  
  
• Make a plan and begin acting on it.

All conflicts consume energy and resources. By dealing directly with conflict, you can manage and leverage your precious resources for better results.

Lead Well® helps organizations to improve measurable results by developing their current and future leaders. For more information, please contact us. By phone, toll-free in the USA: 1-888-LeadWell (532-3935), or 1-609-716-9490. By email, Info@LeadWell.com.

REPUBLICATION: Permission is granted for publishing this article in periodicals provided that you:

1) Notify us (Info@LeadWell.com) and

2) Include the following attribution statement:

Don Blohowiak, a management consultant and popular conference speaker, is the author of several business books. The executive director of the Lead Well® Institute in Princeton, NJ, he may be reached at http://www.LeadWell.com/.

SELLING this material requires our written permission.

TRADEMARKS: "Lead Well" and "Natural Selection" are registered trademarks, and "Lead by Design" is a trademark, owned by Don Blohowiak, Lead Well Institute.

Copyright © 2005, Don Blohowiak, Lead Well Institute

~ All Rights Reserved ~