Healthy Conflict

Is there such a thing? I’m not talking about conflict on the way to work, speeding down Route 8 to the office and giving other slower vehicles your version of sign language. No, I’m talking about real, healthy conflict at work.

Yes – healthy conflict. There is such a thing!

In Patrick Lencioni’s book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, the concept of “healthy conflict” is discussed. Conflict that pushes others to get on board with a new direction. Conflict that engages team members and helps communicate a key message. Conflict to grow beyond what you feel is possible. Conflict that brings in an audacious revenue goal or surpasses performance metrics and expectations. Even conflict that brings people together to mend a broken relationship. Good, healthy conflict separate from anger and disgruntlement.

I am fortunate to be a leader for FedEx Custom Critical, a transportation company located in nearby Uniontown, Ohio. At FedEx Custom Critical, many leaders intentionally set the atmosphere to engage in healthy conflict. We will often push our team members and direct reports to think on their own and make decisions through empowered processes. Whenever you empower others to make those decisions, there is the potential for varying viewpoints, which could create conflict. Cool, right? Well, not when being right is sometimes wrong or if your emotions come out sideways.

One key component to promoting healthy conflict is making sure the conflict is not personal. If you are debating a topic at the office, and specifically disagreeing because you feel you are right and they are wrong, abort the mission! A personal debate for the purpose of being right can become disastrous.

Several years ago I recall arguing with a peer in my director’s office where I felt (and convinced myself) that I was right and he was wrong. My director was in the room somewhat monitoring the dialogue and observed the tension developing by the sentence. The outcome? As I started seeing red (come on, you have all been there), my dialogue and conversation got a bit out of hand. I was speaking fast, arguing my points and taking shots where I could get them in. My director became so frustrated with my behavior that he actually left his office stating, “You are on your own on this one.”

I since have learned that while I may have been right, I damaged not only trust with my director, but also with the person I was engaging in conflict. I am sure you aren’t surprised. This is what happens when we are learning how to engage in healthy conflict. Sometimes, it just comes out sideways. And for what reason, just so I could feel better about being right and proving someone else wrong?

There are a few lessons learned here. First, I should have been better prepared mentally to engage in the conflict. I was tense going into the discussion and basically was picking a fight to prove I was correct. I should have planned my discussion and slept on it overnight – maybe even mind-mapped my conversation to make sure my discussion went smoothly. I also could have worked out or done some physical exercise to lower my energy and come into the meeting more focused. Instead, I was impatient and came in with my dukes up, wanting to get my point across at that moment.

The second lesson learned is that while I was engaging in conflict to better the mission of the business, it did not justify how I was behaving. In conflict, you can be honest, straight forward and deliver a tough message. I simply wasn’t mature enough at that moment to do that in a manner that wasn’t aggressive or hurtful. I should have been the leader in the situation (although I had the lowest ranking title in the room) and started the conversation, “Can I give you a different point of view?” Or I could have asked, “Is this a good time to give you an alternative solution?” Even when escalating up, there are appropriate ways to coach, direct or guide a conversation.

So when have you been in conflict at work? Again, not the sign language version on the road, but real good healthy conflict at the office? Was the conflict successful in producing the desired results? Is your company an organization that promotes conflict in order to drive positive change? How about you personally as either a peer or a leader? Do you set the tone and encourage the activity? Can you engage in conflict – even leading a conflicting discussion and not have any negative recourse? Have you ever sat back and analyzed how it went after you were done? Did you behave poorly, or did you lead the situation and negotiate the landmines?

Let me hear from a few of you and we can then take the discussion to another level.

Regards,

Scott

Scott Garchar is the Operations Manager for the Air Expedite and Temperature Control Services department at FedEx® Custom Critical. Focusing on premium air transportation solutions, Scott’s team provides domestic and global shipping options for high value products to a variety of customers located throughout the world.

Scott has held numerous leadership positions during his 17 years of employment in the transportation industry. He has lead dynamic teams in the Surface Expedite, Marketing and Communications areas. Additionally, Scott was named business development manager for the company in 2002 and was instrumental in expanding FedEx Custom Critical service capabilities into and out of Mexico and other countries.

Managing Multiple Audiences

The Greater Akron Chamber has a mission to drive economic development for the benefit of all citizens in the Greater Akron metro market. The Chamber focuses on job creation, advocacy and business services. As a nonprofit, funded by business, we have two primary roles the community. At the core, we offer direct economic development services, represent business as the voice on policy issues impacting the business climate and direct programs to enhance a company’s bottom line.

A secondary role is as a convener or collaborator on major issues, initiatives or programs that help to build a community that is globally competitive for business and talent attraction, retention, expansion and creation. In the role as a collaborator, we bring together the stakeholders, government, business, education and political leaders to stabilize the right solutions to impact job creation and capital investment.

There are several challenges when bringing different constituents together around what seems like a common theme. I want to start with using an example of Talent Development. If 4,700 additional students earn a four-year degree, it would mean a $500 million economic impact annually to our metro area. All the stakeholders would agree that an increase in education attainment is the key to economic development services. Each group involved can be challenged by limited staff capacity, local and state funding and too many organizations trying to play a leadership role.  Many organizations will say they have the solution and the programs to accomplish a goal of increasing education attainment.

The key to any successful collaboration is for a consistent effort to listen, ask several questions, learn by asking more questions and to communicate what you heard to be sure and capture the motivation for engagement. In any effort to partner, all participants have a need and desire to play a role in the ultimate goal. Everyone needs to give up something, while everyone gains value for their constituency, therefore more gets done collectively and in turn a win-win is accomplished. A key to this effort is trust and being open and honest is important. You can be honest but not totally open.

The emerging leaders will have the greatest success by practicing the basics of communication, building multiple relationships and by giving time and energy to initiatives without expecting an immediate personal or professional benefit. By working with multiple groups of people you learn about different leadership styles, improve your communication skills and connect with different audiences that will help you down the road as you gain additional responsibilities and leadership opportunities.

While this is a broad subject, it is important to hone the skills described above and learn from the example of others who manage multiple groups well. Please feel free to ask questions and provide feedback in the comments section below. Thanks for your interest. 

Dan Colantone

President & CEO

Greater Akron Chamber

Mentorship Blog Officially Kicks-Off March 1st!

Help spread the word on the newly created YPN Mentorship Blog! 

The YPN has a created another opportunity for YP's to CONNECT to our community's established leadership. The YPN Mentorship Blog, scheduled to launch March 1st, will feature a new author and a new topic each month. Followers of the Blog will be able to ask questions and receive answers directly from the author. Signing up is easy. Just click 'follow' in the upper right hand corner of the page. All you need is a Gmail, Yahoo, or Twitter account to sign in. You will receive a notification as soon as the Blog is posted.  

March Featured Author: Dan Colantone, President & CEO of the Greater Akron Chamber

As the Chamber President, Dan Colantone works with and leads different groups of people on a daily basis. He will be sharing his experiences by blogging about "Managing Multiple Audiences." As young professionals we, too, often work with very diverse groups of people from volunteers to customers to company leadership and more. Managing all those various expectations can be complicated. Dan will be offering some insight and tips on creating a positive balance when managing the expectations of multiple stakeholders.  

For more information on the Blog or to become a YPN member today, contact Angela Presutti at (330) 237-1263 or presutti@greaterkakronchamber.org.