What We’ve Learned About Implementing Change and Handling Conflict (podcast)

Welcome to the next installment of the Leadership Vision Podcastwhere we share our expertise in the discovery, practice, and implementation of a Strengths-Based approach to people, teams, and culture.

On this episode of the podcast, Sara Schlipp-Reidel and I reflect on the topics of implementing change and handling conflict through the lens of a recent team engagement. About a week ago, we worked with a client in the Bay Area who we’ve had the privilege of getting to know for the past year. We lead them through the topics of change and conflict, which, as it turns out, was extremely timely for this team.

As you probably know, implementing change and dealing with conflict are as common in teams and organizations as paperclips and email. These things can be planned, or spontaneous. They can be held with great care, or thrown about and discarded like outdated sales reports. Change and conflict can be messy, ugly, hurtful and the cause of great frustration and anxiety.

But if you’ve worked in at least a somewhat healthy environment, you know that these two things, when handled with intentionality and grace, can be the catalyst for significant personal and business growth.

However, handling them with intention and grace it not always so easy.

On this episode, Sara and I briefly share the Leadership Vision approach to change and conflict, then reflect on things we learned from working with this particular team. We’ll share some new insights about the topics of change and conflict, as well as the process of facilitating them. We’ll also offer a few suggestions that we think may help you navigate these two crucial and inevitable aspects of life on any team.

About the Client

We wanted to tell you just a bit about this team. I can’t share exactly who the company is, but what’s relevant to this conversation is that this particular team is part of a very large organization who has been around since the last 1980’s. They have offices all over the world, and at least two team members work and lead their own teams several time zones away. The larger organization also has some pretty solid business and cultural practices in place. They have all sorts of great vision and mission and values stuff flowing through the organization. The actual team we were working with was small, just six people, but the influence they wield in that organization is significant.

It’s important to note that even if a team or organization has been around for a while, they can still struggle when it comes to implementing change or dealing with conflict. This team is by no means dysfunctional, but sometimes having an outside voice can help clear the path for greater innovation, team functioning, and ultimately, an all-around better work environment. All of that, of course, leads to greater success by everyone.

More Resources

Below are a few more resources on the topics of change and conflict.

• A Strengths Conversation About Change
• Four Tips To Deal With Change Effectively
• Two Things I Learned About Change From Our Last Team Engagement Session
• 2 Keys To Leading Through Change
• A Conversation About How Strengths Help Us Navigate Conflict
• How Do You Deal With Conflict? Summer Strengths Question #1
• How To Leverage Your Strengths During Conflict
• How To Work With Someone With Very Different Strengths Than You

About The Leadership Vision Podcast

Thank you for listening to the Leadership Vision Podcast, where we share our expertise in the discovery, practice, and implementation of a strengths-based approach to people, teams, and culture. Subscribe to the Leadership Vision Podcast on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. For more resources about developing your Strengths, the Strengths of your team, or the Strengths of your organization, visit us on the web at leadershipvisionconsulting.com.

Please contact us if you have ANY questions about anything you heard in this episode, or if you’d like to talk to us about helping your team understand the power of Strengths.