Butting Heads — Taking the Sting out of Conflict

What is it about conflict that results in many people either “leading with their left” or “heading for the hills to hide out”? You know the signs … where people either come out of their corner with a passive-aggressive, combative or antagonistic approach or “hide out” hoping if they close their eyes long enough the conflict will go away?

Dr. Donaldson’s view is that many people have simply never learned how to identify, assess, address and resiliently recover from conflict. They are often immobilized by dated thinking, unrealistic self-talk or inappropriate reactions. As a result, they have learned to mask, minimize or misrepresent conflict with the result being that small issues, which could easily be addressed early in a conflict cycle, aren’t, and then they take on a life of their own. The situation often then becomes bigger than big to where those involved become driven by ego and get to a place of loving to hate the “other guy,” therefore totally losing sight of the real reasons for the conflict. June refers to this as getting to know “the story behind the story”.

This workshop puts a face on conflict. It talks about the reasons for it, how it gets fuelled and how to lessen the intensity of it. Participants will leave with a conflict management process to administer in any situation. With practice, (and high Emotional SMARTS ^® and behavioural style flexibility) it is expected one’s fear and trepidation about conflict would lessen, confidence in addressing conflict would increase and the individual would be able to demonstrate a pro-active and forward-thinking new type of conflict management leadership.

Learning Objectives: At the end of one-half day, participants should be able to:

• link each behavioural style to their core needs and predictable high tension behaviours.
• identify how one’s Emotional SMARTS^® and behavioural style flexibility greatly influence one’s conflict expectations, attitudes, statements and behaviours.
• apply a proven conflict management process to the Emotional SMARTS^® and behavioural style of others involved in the conflict.
• establish strategies on how to maintain one’s emotional balance around those people who demonstrate their low Emotional SMARTS^® and less than appealing behavioural style and conflict flexibility.

Audience: People from any walk of life or organizational level.