Mindful Leader Helps Employees Resolve Conflict
I had the pleasure of working with a leader of a company (let’s call her Cindy) who couldn’t quite figure out how to help two of her employees get along. Cindy was happy with both employees’ performance but, for some reason, the two couldn’t get past their differences and would make interactions much more difficult, time-consuming, and unproductive than they had to be. The rest of the employees didn’t have this issue and, except for this pair, morale was good and people collaborated easily.
I could tell Cindy really cared about her staff and that all she really needed was an approach that would help the employees in question get past their differences and interact more positively. Here’s what I noticed about Cindy as we corresponded.
Her Strengths
- Mindful and caring.
- Positive work environment.
- Good morale.
- Motivated employees.
- Great pay and benefits package.
- Opportunities to grow.
- Forthcoming with praise.
Areas for Improvement
- Some way to help people resolve conflict when it arises.
What We Worked on Improving
Cindy already had most of the elements necessary to create a truly positive, honoring work environment, so it was just a matter of helping her smooth things over when people didn’t see eye to eye. In the course of our correspondence, it became apparent that all that was going on was that the two employees were triggering each other because of their own personal issues and worldviews. So, I created a methodology she could follow to defuse the animosity and promote friendly, productive communication.
The Results
Cindy was able to help the two employees find common ground and collaborate instead of antagonize one another by having them genuinely listen to each other and work together to take ownership of their part in making the situation better. She shared that, when the two employees realized that there were alternatives to conflict, they became excited about working together and combining their considerable brainpower. Cindy said she noticed a palpable sense of relief from the pair given that they no longer had to expend so much energy on conflict and that morale improved in the rest of the company as well.
What are your thoughts? Share your story below. I look forward to hearing from you.