Embracing Conflict -- Like Actually Running Toward It!
I am not a huge fan of conflict. Or let me say that historically I have not been a huge fan of conflict. It is just a story that I told myself that conflict was bad and avoiding conflict was good. Absurd. Thankfully I managed to shake that childhood baggage with a fresh look on conflict introduced to me by Vince Corsaro. Basically he makes conflict less about emotion and more about a process. Through a structured format, conflict becomes an opportunity to learn together, rather than an unnecessary escalation. It has worked beautifully for me on so many occasions. In fact, in some cases, I will tell the other person that I'm going to use this process so that we can do it together. Remember, both sides generally dislike conflict so why not make it a positive experience for everyone. Here is a link to the worksheet that I use and an image of it in this post. Let me know how it worked for you. I'd love for you to share your experience.