Employees rely on the certainty of their leaders for their job security and for the comfort and security of their families. For this reason leaders most often feel they need to maintain a calm, forward facing attitude of confidence and certainty to insure they do not telegraph fear or indecisiveness.

Leaders typically feel they can’t take their most challenging problems home because their significant others either don’t understand them or are tired of hearing about them. Nor can they take them to their direct report leaders because they have their own challenges and may want their job.

And lastly, leaders often feel uncomfortable going to their board (if they have a board) when they feel stuck or out of ideas because they were hired for their ideas. These are the comments and sentiments we hear most often from the leaders we serve and where we provide value.

 

Within each team there is the potential for both dynamic and productive tension as well as destructive tension. We know conflict occurs within teams, the challenge is understanding the predictable reasons for prevention and early interventions before they become destructive.