Conflict Management

Why do some organizations successfully work through change and the turbulence that come with it while others don’t? One answer

How often have you found yourself stuck in a work problem and just spinning your wheels over and over? It could be a co-worker conflict that seems to defy resolution, a group disagreement over a hiring decision, or a stalemate on budget cuts that have to be made.

How often do we hear leaders openly admit their mistakes, say that they’re wrong or be honest about their shortcomings? In other words, how often do we see leaders show their humble sides? Not nearly enough.

A while back, a new client came to me exasperated that her workplace had fallen into nonstop gossiping and backbiting – one drama after another. All the signs were there. She saw too many spontaneous closed-door meetings, a rumor mill in overdrive and endless reports of how this co-worker was working against that co-worker. Sound familiar?

Recently I was listening to a manager complain about how her supervisor was not being upfront about her performance and on-going responsibilities. The manager took an extended vacation,and during that time her supervisor had reassigned some of her biggest projects to other team members. When the manager returned, she was surprised to learn of the changes.

Recently I was working with an organization where the senior executives and managers wanted to take steps to create a much tighter and productive working relationship between the two levels of management.

In my leadership work, I have been fielding more and more questions from executives and managers about trust, or the lack there of, within their teams. As one executive asked me recently, “What’s it take for a group to get past its trust issues?”