High Performing Teams - Embrace Conflict

The Characteristics of High Performing Teams - Part 4

Conflict is an essential and unavoidable part of leadership. High performing teams learn to embrace conflict.

Great teams, great leaders, and great organizations have to learn to embrace conflict because they have to confront bad behavior. On the best teams I have been a part of, the players took on this responsibility.

Failure to confront bad behavior spreads like a cancer and takes down teams all of the time. I’ve always said to my teams that whatever you are willing to walk past, that is your new standard. If guys are screwing around in the weight room and nobody says anything to them, that becomes acceptable. That’s your new standard. If guys are jogging back on defense and the team lets it go, they’ll get used to it. That behavior has to be confronted, or it will become normal.

It’s not going to be comfortable. Most people run from conflict. It’s the easy and safe play. Don’t bother confronting it, just move on and forget about it and hope the behavior goes away. That approach can really poison the environment for your team. Communicate regularly with your team about how you are going to resolve conflict. Come up with a game plan for how you are going to disagree, and don’t ever let communication be an issue with your team.

Conflict needs to be embraced. By that, it should be accepted and expected as part of the operation. It’s not like you are walking around looking for things to fight about. But great organizations give people the freedom to be themselves and express their opinions - and teams should act the same way. When that happens, you have a safe environment where risks will be taken and that will lead to great progress. But there will be disagreements, and that is okay. Learn to embrace conflict and figure out a resolution path for your team, and you’ll open up another door towards elite success.