Free Conflict And Leadership Essay Example

The manner in which people respond to conflicts is the one known as conflict style. People do respond differently to different conflicts due to various reasons. Some conflict responses are common while others are rare. Personally, I have used different conflict styles, and this has been due to the various situations.
In the past, I was using the collaboration conflict response style. This is the style I was using to find a solution that integrates the both sets of concerns. I used to consider both concerns as important. The style used to merge the insights from various people who have different perspectives on the problem or conflict. The style was so important especially in situations when hard feelings had been interfering with interpersonal and the working relationships (Ray, 2008).
The collaboration style has proved to my default conflict style. I have confirmed this due to the various conflicts I was involved in and the manner in which I resolved them. There was a time I was involved in wrangles with a junior employee at my workstation. She took up my roles and started commanding me to work under her. I thought that maybe I was wrong and went through her job description and also mine. I emerged later that she was wrong due to her weak interpretation of the roles. I did not blame her, but I decided to seek for insights from our fellow employees. They gave me the possible suggestions. I sat her down and heard her side of the story. We later agreed on a collaborative solution whereby I would delegate some roles to so that she doesn’t feel ignored. Since then we have been great friends and the style worked out pretty well (Ray, 2008).
In addition, I was involved in another conflict with a friend. The conflict emerged both of us lost trust in ourselves. This friend of mine used to lie to me. Whenever we would agree on something, he would not abide by the agreement. One day I got offended and could not hold it more. I yelled at him, and this did not impress him. We broke our friendship for a while. I was forced to seek comments and insights from our other friends. Later on, I met him, and we discussed the issue. We reached a consensus, and our conflict was over. Due to these two examples, I realized that I am of the collaborating conflict style (Ray, 2008).
Furthermore, there are different factors that have contributed to the conflict style in a leadership role. They are family upbringing, individual personality, personal relations and others. My family upbringing and own character have been mostly collaborative. I do not do well in a harsh environment. They contributed towards my conflict styles (Rahim, 2015).
Presently, my conflict style is accommodation. I have, however, ultimately not abandoned the collaborating style. It is important as it builds relationship and maintains harmony. Presently, I am in a conflict with a senior employee. The conflict is,however, not so significant to me. I forgot to remind him of a particular issue, and he has taken it as if I deliberately refused. He is more experienced than me. I have decided to accommodate it so that I maintain harmony and friendship (Ray, 2008).
Some of my personal goals for the conflict management style are ensuring that I maintain peace and harmony, maintaining the friendship, avoiding disruption and preventing immediate conflict. In future, I wish to maintain accommodating style. In some instances, I may use collaborating style (Cloke & Goldsmith, 2011).
Conflict strategies refer to the techniques involved in the ending conflicts. The techniques also vary due to the nature of the problem. The essential components of a conflict strategy are that there must be styles, there should be a solution, there need to be parties conflicting and predicted harmful effects of the conflicts. The styles are the responses to the conflict. The solutions are the resolutions for ending the conflict and off course the negative effects are the undesired results of the conflicts (Ray, 2008).
In the past, conflicts were resolved through mediation, discussion, and written communication and voting. Mediation occurs when there is the presence of a third party that helps end the conflict. Discussion is when the conflicting parties talk with each other to end the issue. Also, written communication applies when one of the parties has a hot temper. The writing can help in ending the conflict. Finally, voting occurs two employees argue over something of beneficial to the company. A vote is set up, and other employees vote for it. A decision is later achieved. The above are examples of how conflicts were resolved in the leadership literature (Rahim, 2015).
The principles can be applied differently when it comes to individual and organizational settings. In individual cases, apply those principles that have the best solution to the individual and maintain some privacy. They include mediation, written communication, and discussion. On the other hand, organizational conflict strategies are voting, and to a lesser extent written communication. They ensure that all employees are aware (Cloke & Goldsmith, 2011).
What may differ between these two settings are the parties to the conflict. Individually, the parties may be people who impact differently on the individual whereas, on the organization, the impact may be direct (Rahim, 2015).
Politics and power play a significant role in resolution strategy. They are the factors that mostly lead to conflicts and eventually resolve the conflicts. When political and other leaders arrange for a conflict resolution meeting, people tend to follow it keenly. Whatever is proposed as the best method is followed without much ado. They are very significant factors in the resolution of conflicts (Cloke & Goldsmith, 2011).
In conclusion, there are various styles of conflict responses as explained. The responses vary considerably and can be applied to different contexts. Different people, therefore, use them differently. Conflict strategies also vary significantly. They are used in various settings and can be affected by factors such as politics and power.

Bibliography

Cloke,K., & Goldsmith, J. (2011). Resolving Conflicts at Work: Eight Strategies for Everyone on the Job. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Rahim, M. A. (2015). Managing Conflict in Organizations. Piscataway: Transaction Publishers.
Ray, J. P. (2008). The Influence of Culture on Conflict Handling Styles and Use of Mediation. Michigan: ProQuest.