Conflict 101 for Leaders

Written by Shawn Bakker, Lead Psychologist

Conflict and leadership – they go hand in hand. Results from our conflict research study show that leaders cause conflict, are expected to handle workplace conflict, and yet struggle doing so.

Here are the numbers:

73% list poor leadership as a common cause of conflict.

93% see conflict handling as a very important leadership skill.

17% report that leaders are effective dealing with conflict.

When faced with conflict, people have a choice on how to deal with conflict, but our research shows that Canadians tend to use Compromising the most and Competing the least. When leaders are not able to effectively read a situation and adjust their approach to managing each unique conflict, value is lost and relationships can be harmed.

Using the MBTI assessment and the Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument together with leaders can provide the necessary insights for them to cause less conflict, and resolve the conflict that does occur more effectively.

To learn more about the interaction between Personality Type and ways of managing conflict please read our MBTI x TKI interpretation guide here: Using the TKI Asessment with the MBTI Assessment