Note: I strongly encourage you to watch our virtual masterclass on building a strong team to give you a foundation for these weekly tips.
According to Patrick Lencioni, when team members express vulnerability, when they have confidence that their peer’s intentions are good, when team members are open and transparent, a team can engage in constructive, unfiltered debate about ideas. However, our “default” conflict behavior can derail this dialogue. For example, when someone disagrees with your opinion, you may become passive aggressive; or if the discussion is not going your way, you may overpower others and become overly aggressive to make your point. Here is a simple way to help you and others overcome these natural tendencies:
Take a look at the conflict wheel below, which shows healthy conflict behaviors in the middle (those behaviors that are healthy in a debate) and unhealthy conflict behaviors on the outside in red (those behaviors that are unhealthy in a debate). Identify the unhealthy behavior that is causing the problem. Let’s say that I tend to “Retreat from the conflict” (guess what, I do!). Now find the healthy behavior that is on the opposite side of the circle (see the diagram). For me, that is “Addresses issues head on.” That is a specific behavior that I can hone in on to overcome my unhealthy behavior. In other words, I personally need to work on addressing issues head on. Want another example? For someone that “Overpowers & gets aggressive”, they need to focus on “Listens to others’ perspectives.”
This is a simple tool for everyone on your team to personally identify a healthy behavior that they personally can focus on to contribute to healthier debate on the team.
Now go build a #strongteam.
©2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
