LEADING OTHERS –

MANAGING CONFLICT
SOWK 696
JULY 23-27, 2018

Natalie Beltrano, Susan Herman, Jayla Rousseau-

Thomas and Shandra Smiley-Rudy
 Managing Conflict

To be a transformational leader, we must be able to brave through and lead through change.

Statement re: broad topic of leadership, group’s choice to focus on managing and
addressing conflict as thus far this is a gap in the program. Possible quote?
Susan's addition below as an idea for quote:
"Our careers, our companies, our relationships, our lives succeed or fail gradually then
suddenly, one conversation at a time. What gets talked about, how it gets talked about,
and who gets invited to that conversation determines what’s going to happen." Susan
Scott (6:19 TedX)

A normal response to change is conflict...

Learning Objectives

 To be able to identify and evaluate our personal styles for dealing with conflict, and
critique the strengths and challenges of our conflict style preferences.
 To identify (or develop an understanding of) how dealing with conflict may apply within
and impact our placements, future work sites, and/or have been present in past social
work environments
 To apply an understanding of our personal conflict style to a conflict scenario within
practicum or past practice settings.
YOUTUBE VIDEO: THE CASE FOR RADICAL
TRANSPARENCY – SUSAN SCOTT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVKaXUB4EFg
 Radical Transparency – The Key Points from Susan Scott

Apostrophe 1. Careers, relationships, lives, succeed or fail, one conversation at a time.

Apostrophe 2. Many have an intense, illogical fear of the truth. So many withhold how
they feel and pay the price.
Apostrophe 3. The future and progress of the world depends on our progress of
individuals now. Leadership is not a title, it is a behavior, and anyone can exhibit it.

As leaders, we must feel secure in speaking honestly about what is happening within our
organizations and challenge ourselves to have fierce conversations about what we think
and be open to direct criticism. This requires a leader to be receptive to receiving honest
feedback. In addition, a leader must also provide honest opinions. This can create
conflict within ourselves and our organizations. As a leader, you may not always be
liked, however this culture of fear can shift by modeling the acceptance of radial
transparency.

TEDxOverlake – Susan Scott – The case for Radical Transparency [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVKaXUB4EFg
SEEKING TO UNDERSTAND
Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Habit #5. See one page summary on D2L.
Seek first to understand, then be understood.

 When a problem arises, a leader cannot assume to know where an individual is

coming from
 Leaders must be secure within themselves to be able to connect with what is being
said to allow themselves to be open to influences
 Empathetic listening requires understanding and assisting an individual to work
through their thoughts and feelings at their own pace to arrive at the problem and the
solution
 Empathetic listening provides for accurate information to work through conflict and
disagreements
 The relationship between the leader and individual is key; interactions must be
genuine
 Through empathetic listening, opportunities arise for creative problem-solving, third
alternative solutions and effective interdependence
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STYLES

See “Conflict Management Style Assessment” (Are we able to attach it here?)

Conflict Management Styles

 According to Thomas Kilman, there are five different types of conflict styles: Avoiding,
Competing, Collaborating, Compromising, Accommodating.
 There is a time and place for each conflict style:
 there are situations or goals not worth fighting for at that time (avoiding)
 and there are times to drive ahead a goal or project to meet a deadline (competing).
 And in an urgent situation, there is not time to collaborate – someone has to make a decision now!

 It is important we understand our preferred conflict styles. This insight will help us
understand which other styles we need to develop, and natural conflict tendencies we
need to manage (it is not always helpful to use your preferred style).
 To be effective as a leader and in a team, we need to be mindful of the conflict styles of our
colleagues so we can also adapt and support healthy conversations.
 if a team member is a strong avoider, and you ask to have a conversation with them to address an issue, that
person is likely going to feel terribly unsafe and seek ways to avoid you.
 The accommodator might say yes to all your wishes or concerns, yet completely disagree until they finally
explode (according to Thomas Kilman, this can happen with accommodators).
 Goals

Image adapted from KSF Communication accomplice.uk.com Relationships

 Conflict Management Styles

Valuing
Personal Goals

Valuing Relationships

Image adapted from: http://www.mspguide.org/tool/conflict-styles

 FOR DISCUSSION
• How might any of the conflict management tools be helpful for you in
understanding how you deal with conflict, and/or how you may choose to adapt
your approach to addressing conflict in the future?

• With an understanding of your preferred conflict management style, and differing

times when other styles may be needed, please identify a conflict situation that
may arise within your placement, and how you might manage it. Or outline a past
work situation where conflict arose and how you may deal with this differently in the
future.