As leaders, we face challenges and conflicts every day, during volunteering, workplace, or in established relationships. Conflicts are misunderstood phenomena. We see them as negatives in relationships. However, if we understand how to negotiate conflicts, we can learn from them and make them work for us. Conflicts are the reason we accept leadership roles. Leaders are not managers. Managers supervise subordinates’ work and count their tasks to ensure completion. Instead, leaders help manage behaviors, advance leadership, and help make better leaders out of the people around them.

Once we recognize conflicts, there are five styles leaders can use to understand, resolve and manage conflicting situations; they are avoidance, accommodate, competition, compromise, and collaboration. Knowing each style can improve your flexibility in identifying and resolving conflict.

Firstly, as a leader, you should know about avoidance. Sometimes to not allow threatening issues to get out of hand, people choose to avoid the situation or the person. Persons who often use avoidance as a conflict style are generally uncooperative and unassertive. Avoidance works sometimes but is an ill-advised method of resolving conflicts. Use this style only when you wish to postpone dealing with a bad issue.

Next, the competing style describes people who are assertive and uncooperative. They are primarily self-interested and use people for what they want. They take as much as they can take with the care of others. The best scenario for optimum use is for business contracts and agreements. A personal conflict…