The Friday Forum…Conflict, How Leadership Make it Worse!

January 29, 2016

The Friday Forum today is about…

Conflict – Leaders, especially clergy, shy away from conflict, making it worse.

When I was doing research for a magazine article on conflict, I interviewed many experienced leaders on the topic, including William Willimon when he was Methodist Bishop of the North Alabama Annual Conference. He flat out told me that pastors move away from conflict when, in fact, they should be dealing with it promptly and directly. He went on to say that conflict was a sign of energy in the organization.

I ultimately took that rather sizable article and made an ebook out of it. You can have it for free at Creating and Sustaining Healthy Teams.

1. What are ways that we make conflict worse by ignoring it? How do we equip ourselves to manage conflict?
2. Have we been taught that leaders must always be polite? Why is being polite a danger in dealing with conflict? When we’re not being polite, are we being impolite?
3. Not challenging a person causing conflict is sometimes a leader’s way of not acting because they want to be liked. Would it be better to be respected for standing up for principles than attempting to be liked? What’s the danger in trying to be liked by everyone?
4. Is avoiding challenging a conflict-maker a way of showing empathy for their feelings? Why is acting through empathy a really bad leadership model?

Please comment below.

Hugh Ballou
The Transformational Leadership Strategist ^{TM
Read about me on Forbes}

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