Courageous leaders encourage conflict

Facilitating a workshop yesterday my participants helped me make some powerful connections. Many organisations identify the importance of collaboration and innovation to their culture and the necessary behaviours for their business. Through conversations to explore conflict we came to realise yesterday that to truly bring individuals together within a team and an organisation where they are prepared to engage honestly and share their needs, emotions and concerns so we create true collaboration and ignite innovation then CONFLICT IS ESSENTIAL. Without conflict you cannot possibly have collaboration and innovation. And it is interesting to recognise that those same organisations who look to create collaboration and innovation do not overtly welcome and seek conflict. Therefore you have to question whether they truly do have collaboration and innovation.

We also came to realise yesterday that many teams think they are collaborating but really they are compromising - mostly because we do not encourage the conflict, we do not make it clear that we need it - and that it is only by unleashing this conflict that we can throw away the concept of my way and your way and create a new way - "our way" - which is true collaboration. The underlying mindset of many people is that someone has to win and someone has to lose - and this is not the mindset people need to collaborate.

So to all courageous leaders out there or to those who aspire to be more courageous in the way they lead - then get out there with your people and encourage conflict. And know that it is the way you resolve it that is critical to the long term sustainability of collaboration and innovation.