Some time ago I asked the audience of my readers to express their opinions about the possible reasons for a conflict. I want to thank all who voted, by the way.
The poll results were surprising since the votes were equally spread between the pre-defined responses to a question. It means that all three presented as the options-factors can simultaneously impact an outcome known as a conflict.
It leads us to the intermediate explanation.
Misunderstanding
Initially, a conflict may occur because of misunderstanding.
Misunderstanding is a failure to understand something properly, for example, a situation or a person’s remarks.
An initial misunderstanding evokes emotion
Depending on the situation (and that is very often) an initial misunderstanding evokes emotion.
In the modern business world, we mostly use the term emotional intelligence while characterizing the ability to control our own emotions.
Emotional intelligence is defined as the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, as well as recognize and influence the emotions of those around you.
Four core competencies of emotional intelligence
- Self-awareness
- Self-management
- Social awareness
- Relationship management
As we can see from the above-mentioned, we can control or can learn how to control at least two competencies of emotional intelligence thus ourselves and the relationship with an opponent.
Nevertheless, only true leaders seem to fully deploy emotional intelligence as a soft skill. And that is why in many conflicts a disagreement can be escalated furthermore.
Where the emotions start there comes an uncontrolled ambition.
Ambition is a strong desire to achieve something including a “victory” in any disagreement.
Uncontrolled personal ambitions are the main reason for modern military conflicts worldwide without exception.
Therefore, we can confidently conclude.
with the focus on communication skills formation as well as cultural and cross-cultural understanding.
with the focus on activation of all four competencies of emotional intelligence in a conflictive situation.
with the focus on ambitions as visions to be aligned with the visions of the opponents/partners.
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