The Metiss Group's Blog

Most leaders are aware of the different behavioral styles people have at work and have taken measures to leverage those styles among their team.  Some conflict may arise when the deliberate, contemplative analyst works with the freewheeling, aggressive sales person; or when the rigid, critical quality manager works with the scattered, impatient marketing associate.  But most of these conflicts are manageable because the behaviors are observable and the co-workers can easily identify the cause of the discord.

It’s the conflicting workplace motivators or values causing deep disputes that can damage a team’s performance.  What happens when the caring, selfless HR Manager and the no-nonsense, bottom-line oriented Operations Manager disagree over a termination?  Or when the dogmatic, judgmental Buyer and the over-achieving, controlling Branch Manager oppose a new product line?  These disagreements often end in stalemates, irreconcilable impasses, and sometimes unjust or irreparable personal attacks.  The reason for these unhealthy clashes is that we often don’t understand and appreciate our internal motivations and those of our coworkers.

Leaders who empower their team to assess workplace motivators, share the findings, talk about the likely conflicts, and prepare for solutions before confrontations arise are successful even through the most difficult situations.

This entry was posted on June 12, 2015 at 6:53 pm and is filed under Leadership. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.