Welcome to another beautiful
edition of CORE-man SENSETM, we are so excited to bring you this
continuing episode of our conflict management series. Today, we will be looking
at the conflict management styles assumed by different individuals. These
management styles are the particular pattern we choose to adopt when in a
conflict. They are the five major styles we engage in randomly, considering the
influence of the factors given in the earlier edition which are; How to achieve
our personal goal and How to keep a good relationship. In no particular order
they are:
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THE TURTLE (WITHDRAWING): The turtle is an
animal that withdraws into its shell when faced by adversity, it doesn’t like
to be challenged or opposed in any way possible. They are mostly cool, calm and
collected. They run away from trouble at the very smell of it, they can give up
personal goal or relationship when challenged by conflicts or by a conflicting
individual.
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THE SHARK (CONFRONTING): The shark is a fish
known for attacking its prey with its powerful set of jaws and chisel like
teeth, they are not intimidated by any animal of any size, and their pride is
in their victories. They overpower opponents by forcing them to accept their
own ways of resolving a conflict. They achieve their goals at all cost which
makes them selfish. They prioritise their personal goals more than any existing
relationship. In the shark’s school of thought He believes you either win or
lose, and this makes them never accept defeat because it reduces their
self-esteem. Their pride is in their achievement of overwhelming others,
intimidating others, overpowering and oppressing others. Losing for them is a
sense of failure, inadequacy and weakness. A shark wants nothing less than a
victory.
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THE TEDDY BEAR (SMOOTHING): The bear is known as
an animal that loves to be cuddled, they are friendly animal that would go all
the way for you after you’ve proven yourself. Once the trust factor is well
established, it doesn’t care how far it has to go. The bear sometimes forget or
regard their personal goals less because of existing relationships. The teddy
wants to be accepted and loved by all, they believe you can’t discuss conflicts
without stepping on people’s toes especially those they love which can ruin
their relationship, so they avoid it for peace and harmony’s sake. The teddy smoothens
every conflict by giving up their goals and let you have your way for the sake
of peace.
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THE FOX (COMPRPOMISING): The fox is a very cunny
animal as you know, it loves to sacrifice something for the bigger good of its
want. Hmmnnn, sly fox. They would compromise on the factors they have at hand
to resolve a conflict, the fox can easily let go of part of their personal
goals and part of their relationship in compromise of getting whatever they
really want (which is a common good), also persuading you to give up some of
yours too. Their relationships and goals are moderately important so they tend
to bridge the gap between the extremes of absolute goals and absolute
relationship.
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THE OWL (CONFRONTING): The owl is a nocturnal
bird that would readily face up to its challenges seeing conflicts as problems
that should be readily solved and in the bid to resolve conflict they end up
providing a solution that expends both their goals and the those of those close
to them. They see conflicts as a means of improving relationships between two
individuals or groups by reducing tension among them by trying to iron them out
through discussion to identify the cause of the conflict and proffering
solutions that favours both themselves and others. They are not satisfied till
all conflicts have been fully resolved which favours both their own personal
goals and others.
Sometimes, we under estimate what
conflicts are really all about. For me, conflict should be constructive. They
should give you a drive towards what your priorities are, they can foster
change in our thinking pattern also. Conflicts could really be of great value
when properly and skilfully managed. Being in conflicts sparks off curiosity
which in turn makes life more interesting, a life without challenges is nothing
but a replayed video game. Conflicts makes us aware of the presence of problems
in our relationships that needs to be solved. Conflicts can be fun too
especially when they are not taken all too seriously for example in competitive
sports, teasers and puzzles e.t.c.
So conflicts helps us get better
in our everyday life depending on what angle we are glancing from. If the
members of a group gets better in their relationship, have greater work output,
stronger bond in their relationships, if the group are content with the
contribution of one another in a project (even when it’s not totally even), if
they trust each other because trust is the key or pillar of any relationship
then you can square your shoulders and beat your chest in confidence to say
that the conflict was constructive.
We
all experience conflicts every day because we are humans, you can manage it
perfectly depending on the way you approach it, so with this conflict
management styles I hope you get the best out of every conflict as you make
them constructive enough for your good. Remember at CORE-man SENSETM
we value your effectiveness and happiness. Feel free to comment and write back
to us. Don’t forget to join us in our next edition. Thank you.
