When Team Conflicts Become Your Secret Weapon For Success

At a time of growing pressure to do more with less alongside rising levels of employee anxiety and burnout, it’s not surprising that workplace conflicts are becoming more and more common.

Unfortunately, to make matters worse, many leaders are getting conflict wrong in seeing it as something that needs to be avoided at all costs.

The truth is conflict like our emotions are not inherently bad. It only becomes a problem when it leads to destructive behaviour that erodes trust and team camaraderie.

It’s also worth noting that our brains are hardwired to view conflict as a threat. So while it might not be a life-threatening event, our brain’s survival mechanisms are still activated when we encounter conflicts at work.

Then there’s the impact social media has had not only on our attention spans, but on how much quicker we become outraged or unwilling to listen to people who opposing/differing views to our own.

Of course, none of this is to say that there’s nothing we can do about it. After all, in Leadership Espresso Shot 73, I shared the story of how a cashier at my local grocery store was able to successfully resolve a conflict with an irate customer.

That’s why in this Leadership Espresso Shot, I wanted to share a framework consisting of four proven measures that will help you create a workplace environment where your employees will be able to successfully manage conflict, transforming it from something that can tear your team apart into something that will make them stronger and more focused on what needs to be done.