— To follow is a bullet of wisdom on leadership. It comes from Tom’s rifle, named Shot, who has seen it all. You’ll get the drift by clicking Blog in the menu above. —
HOT AND HEAVY! Incoming and outgoing. Exchange of bullets… or words. Well, we rifles do have bullets, but I will tell you that I have witnessed many a battle in which words were the weapons of choice.
Conflict seems to lurk at every corner of interpersonal relations. And if entertained, witness a fire fight—seems everyone comes loaded for bear. Typically, conflict is complicated, but here’s a tip for how to address it: Start with what you really want. Do you really want to win the battle and lose the war? Of course not. What do you really want for yourself, for the other party, and for the relationship. I said really—deep down and over time. Yes, start with perspective. Now you have a chance of saying something—using words—to de-escalate the situation, changing fight to fix.