I’VE BEEN THINKING A LOT ABOUT CONFLICT

Maybe some of this is coming because I can feel the tension in the air (Ashley Shaeffer style). There seems to be a pretty big gap between how things are and how people want things to be. Schools, travel, relationships - there’s a gap that is creating conflict between current and desired states.

This is pretty much where my career has taken me. I’ve been driving change in organizations which means I need to create positive visions for the future and make them differentiated from the status quo. And in coaching, I work with clients to co-create a picture of the future and then partner to move in that direction. In both cases, the job is to create conflict. And I have not always done this well. So I wanted to find my own way to approach healthy conflict. Here a brief overview wrapped around a framework of:

Clarity – clarify the “what”
Compassion – seek cognitive understanding
Courage –use radical candor

CONNECTION TO HIGH PERFORMING TEAMS

It turns out that diverse teams tend to generate more conflict - at least it can feel like that because we’re not surrounded by the warmth and coziness of people just like us. One of the most powerful things a leader can do is to surround themselves with smart people who do not think like them. Nothing has been more rewarding as a leader than to co-create a space for people to tell me I am blatantly wrong. It’s often true. And I always learn from the healthy conflict created.

I’ve launched a new course to help leaders develop high performing teams. It’ll help create some healthy conflict with your team. Give it a try!

- Mike Sweeney, www.sabercoaching.com

If you found this post valuable, please share it far and wide so others can benefit. If you want to think about investing in some coaching, shoot me a note @ mikesweeney@sabercoaching.com. Maybe we can co-create some healthy conflict to get you moving closer to that picture of the future you have in your head!