You have finally arrived! After years of college preparatory planning, you are officially on campus for college orientation with great anticipation of the best year ever! Your dorm mate matched your “roomie” profile and from what you could pull from exploration on the social network, he appears to be a great fit. You prep your room-“Neat as a pin.” Your roommate arrives. You are fired up!

Day Two

You and your new room buddy are now officially moved in and enjoying first encounters of dorm life, cafeteria food, and the liberating feelings of independence.

Day Five

You are building disciplined routines to study with little distraction, come to class early and prepared, staying to your exercise routine, keeping a tidy living space, and flossing before bed. Your roommate however is the exact opposite. He plays obnoxious noise at all hours, wakes up late for class, carelessly litters the room, and takes delight in nearly everything that is appalling to you. You are no longer excited about sharing your space with your new pal. He drives you mad!

Every Day

If you think about it, there is conflict across the messiness of human system every day. In life and leadership we interact with individuals who have completely different working styles, personality types and irritating tendencies. If we pause briefly between stimulus and response to know this about ourselves, we can more effectively lead ourselves and consequently, better reflect grace and understanding in the broad distinctions of others.

The Tap Root of Conflict

Conflict is a pervasive feature common to all levels of social organizations, including teams and departments. Organizational conflict can be described as a state of discord between individuals or groups of individuals interacting together and driven by a variety of relational or external factors stemming from the actual or perceived opposition of needs, values, and interest.

Relational Conflict

The reality for most is that we spend most of our waking hours at work. The social points of contacts we engage throughout the day are numerous and frequent. Invariably, misunderstanding and miscommunication caused by language and social variances lead to ill will among teams. In addition, office politic, gossip and the persistence of drama lead to internal culture clashes. As such, leaders must stand at attention to recognize interpersonal conflict swiftly to confront and crush the potential of accelerated organizational dysfunction.

External Conflict

Sources outside the organization can equally cause conflict. Positive vendor, customer and client interaction is essential to meet bottom line operational expectations. It is not uncommon for a breakdown in communication to occur as fast paced transactions are produced. A hot head and temper will only provoke and deepen misunderstanding and mistrust with those served. Likewise, organizational leaders must quickly identify and remedy these trials to salvage trust and any financial implications in the balance.

When conflict is not handled effectively, the results can be quite damaging. Manifest conflict can quickly turn into personal animosity and fractured relationships. Teamwork ultimately breaks down. Talent is wasted as people disengage from their work and the vicious downward spiral of negativity, blame, and passive aggressive culture becomes the norm.

“Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

#GiANTworlwide #leadership #understanding #conflict #relationship