Difficulties are meant to rouse, not
discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict. – William E. Channing
French
novelist and playwright Alexandre Dumas once had a heated quarrel with a rising
young politician. The argument became so intense that a duel was inevitable.
Since both men were superb shots they decided to draw lots, the loser agreeing
to shoot himself. Dumas lost.
Pistol in
hand, he withdrew in silent dignity to another room, closing the door behind
him. The rest of the company waited in gloomy suspense for the shot that would
end his career. It rang out at last. His friends ran to the door, opened it,
and found Dumas, smoking revolver in hand. “Gentlemen, a most regrettable thing
has happened,” he announced, “I missed.”
While the
way we deal with conflicts has improved, there is still no shortage of conflict.
Workplace conflict can be a strong source of stress and tension and being able
to lead through those times is essential.
As reported by
Recruitment Coach (http://bit.ly/19V0bUc) the negative impacts of workplace
conflict leads to increased staff turnover and absenteeism. Their Employee
Development Systems survey found that 81% of HR professionals had seen
employees resign as a result of conflict, and 77% have noticed increased
absenteeism, resulting in increased business cost.
What do you
think are the leading contributors to workplace conflict? According to the
study the top five causes of workplace conflict were: warring egos and
personality clashes, poor leadership, lack of honesty, stress, and clashing
values. While conflict in the workplace may be inevitable, ignoring it is not
an option. So what is a leader to do? Here are four suggestions for consideration.
Acknowledge it. Until management, including HR,
acknowledges that there is a problem there is no correcting it. As a leader you
don’t need to be the last in the room to recognize what everyone else knows and
experiences. How many employees must leave, how much revenue must you lose, and
how much abuse do you think your employees must endure before you act? When you
identify the problem you can begin to work on solutions, but not until then.
Poor leadership was cited for a reason. Don’t add to the problem through
omission.
Welcome it. Yes, welcome it! Warring egos and
personalities among your people, when properly channeled, can be one of the
single greatest sources of inspiration you need. General George S. Patton was accurate
when he said, “If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.” When
perceived threats are removed and differences are celebrated rather than
attacked it can be the turning point in creating the company culture that
you’ve been missing. Don’t squelch diversity; welcome it.
Elevate it. Now that you have acknowledged and
welcomed conflict you can elevate it to a higher level. Rather than allowing
warring personalities to be labeled as enemies, bring them together as allies
to channel their creative energies for something good. Invest in a training
program like DISC to discover personality styles and how to create the
chemistry your team needs to succeed. It’s when you respectfully have everyone
on the same page, when values are clear, and communication is honest, that you
can learn to see the value conflict can have. It might sound risky, but
consider the consequences of inaction.
Celebrate it. Leading through conflict will not be
easy. It will take honesty to face your conflict and courage to change it. But
once you do you can position yourself to be the benefactor of conflict and not
the victim. When your employees see each other as teammates rather than
adversaries it can be celebrated.
Diversity of thoughts, ideas, and personalities is one of your greatest
assets and it should never be destroyed by poor leadership or out-of-control
egos. Your workplace should be a place of celebration!
What do you
say?
© 2013 Doug
Dickerson
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