Kingdom Leadership 2024- Conflict Resolution/ Rashea@LLO2 Academy- Leadership Edition

Dear God moments.👀

Stress. Pressure. Fatigue. Exhaustion.

People can be a bit much. People can stress you out, and drive good leaders and colleagues away. I have seen it time and time again.

Leading people through conflict to resolution requires patience. Patience. And patience.😂

You are the mediator. You have to hear matters out. Then, prayerful decide what is best to do.

Options. Opinions.🛑 The right answers. The best solutions.✅

As a leader, your number one mission is to lead not be liked. People are fickle. Moods change. Opinions change. Preferences change.

Focus on leading your team. Do what is best for the team. Moreover, do what is best not preferred.

.Listen.

.Analyze.

.Discern.

.Use discretion.

.Prayerfully make decisions and take action.

When asked why you made a specific decision, communicate that you are doing what is best not preferred. 

How will you know if your decision and action plan was the right one?

You will see the right results. It may happen immediately or it may happen gradually, but the right results will be evident.

Furthermore, you will, also, have peace about your decisions and action plans. If you are weary on the inside about your decisions and action plans, you may want to rethink them, and prayerfully go about the circumstances a different way. A lack of peace, means there's a better way.

If you do what is preferred over what is best, you will confront issues that were unnecessary. Don't complicate your process. Progression and peace are the results of doing what is best over what is preferred.

Be sure to communicate this same approach to your leadership team who are heads of departments and outreach endeavors in ministry and the marketplace. Do what is best not preferred. Your number one objective is to lead not be liked.

When your leaders take hold of this approach when making decisions and developing a workable action plan that is best, their stress levels and anxiety about leading through conflict resolution will decrease. Much of a leaders stress, anxiety, frustration and depression doesn't come from work itself, but from people who cause conflict and complicate work environment.🙃 Sometimes, you can help a person work through their stress and anxiety by asking them these two simple questions.

1. How are you doing? 

2. How are things outside of work?

Often times, the one who started the conflict, their tensions actually started outside of the workplace or organization. People have a tendency to bring their trauma and drama with them to work or to the organization which causes conflict for others. As a leader, sit down with those who are in conflict. After hearing the matter out, have each individual individually write out an action plan. List 5 strengths and 5 weaknesses that they must work on consistently to help them work through the conflict with the other individual(s). 

For example:  Strength 1. I listened well. 

                         Weakness 1. My tone needs improvement.

Action plan: I will listen well and speak calmly.

When individuals are held accountable for their own actions, growth and development, instead of always blaming one another and pointing the finger at the other, the morale changes in the workplace and organization.

So many times, leaders hear both sides and get no where. Conflict, but no resolve.🙃 

Leaders here is your assignment!

.Listen.

.Assess.

.Delegate a self-accountability action plan.

.Follow up.

After a week, bring the individuals together, and ask them how are things going? Also, ask them, individually, at separate times, how things are going outside of work? Their self-accountability action plan should be working in both the workplace and their personal lives. Encourage the individuals to continue exercising their self-accountability action plan.

If a colleague under you is resistant to implementing the self-accountability action plan: 

1. Go over the importance of why the action plan was developed. Document that you went over the reasons for the self-accountability action plan. The document must be signed by both parties and filed away. Be sure to give them a copy.

2. If the person is still resistant and still causing conflict within the workplace or organization, offer some counseling provided by a certified counselor that the workplace or organization offers. Document if they accepted the counseling or not. The document must be signed by both parties and filed away. Be sure to give them a copy.

3. If this doesn't work, usher a verbal warning. Have the verbal warning documented, signed by both parties and filed away. Be sure to give them a copy.

4. If the verbal warning doesn't work, usher a written warning. Have the written warning documented, signed by both parties and filed away. Be sure to give them a copy.

5. If this doesn't work, usher a weeks unpaid suspension. Have the suspension notice witnessed by another superior, signed by all parties in attendance and filed away. Be sure to give them a copy. This protects the organization or corporation from any unlawful or unnecessary law suits by the employee.

6. If that doesn't work, termination is the last resort. Let them go. Have another superior witness the termination. All parties involved must sign the document and file the documents away. Be sure to give them a copy of the termination papers.

Do not skip steps. Skipping steps can backfire. The objective is to retain healthy colleagues and to maintain a healthy environment. 

Utilizing the self-accountability action plan and holding people responsible for their actions and growth will drastically heighten the morale on the job and ease tensions brewing. Go from conflict to conflict resolved. Leaders lead beyond the conflict. Good leaders help resolve conflict.

Rashea@LLO2