The Dead Zone: The Danger of Avoiding Conflict

Today’s workplace is filled with different ethnicities, genders, beliefs and generations. As a result, conflict is going to always be lurking around every corner or water cooler. As a leader, it becomes your job to not only resolve conflict but to ward it off. Leaders carry the task of watchmen because they are expected to see the “smoke” before the conflict fire. The worse thing a manager / leader can do is not learn the art of conflict leadership. Like it or not, conflict management is a part of leadership and sometimes it’s the most important part. It is important to remember that after the dust settles, conflict can usher in the best era of your business / organization. It becomes imperative that leaders master the art of conflict leadership and learn how to lead after the fallout.

Dissolution of company culture

At its core, company culture is built off trust and respect for leadership. The belief that your work environment will be equipped with everything you would need to be successful. It becomes the job of leadership to ensure that this trust is maintained and cultivated amongst their subordinates. Company culture is the prime place where “wall watching” becomes vital. As your organization ushers in new employees, they must understand proper protocol. Establishing a proper hierarchy reduces the opportunities for conflict to arise.

Conflict resolution is a top attribute for a good leader. In the company culture dynamic, avoidance of conflict becomes detrimental to the balance. If subordinates feel their grievances aren’t being addressed or if they can’t get results it will slowly chip away at the trust. A loss of trust, is the beginning of the demise of your organizations culture. Always make sure that your organization has systems in place to ensure balance among your leadership. Subordinates should always feel like their opinions matter and have a place within your organization.

The Pipeline

In an organization, leaders not only establish the communication pipeline but they also maintain it. For this cause, a hierarchy must be created and implemented to ensure the system of checks and balances. Often times, organizations fail because no hierarchy has been established and managers become endued with unintentional power. In other words, they become the absolute power and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In an organization, no leader should retain absolute power but everyone should be subject to some type of higher authority.

Devoid of a hierarchy, individuals don’t know who to take their issues to. As a result, the communication pipeline never establishes it connection and the lines of communication are never instituted. It is imperative that individuals understand who they report to and what is the leadership protocol.

Conclusion

Leaders should always remember that their subordinates are human beings. As a result, they have certain expectations that may supersede old school workplace perimeters. Modern knowledge has shown us that employees expect their most basic needs to be met in the workplace and they expect their leaders to care. Understanding the needs of your subordinates helps to keep the workplace productive and professional.