How to Be an Effective Boss If You Hate Conflict
Teams can get tense when you try too hard to be liked or don’t listen enough
Jessica Powell, the former Google vice president who wrote The Big Disruption and told you how to quit your job, is here to answer your common but tricky work questions. Check back every other week for more management advice with a tech inflection.
I’m someone who dislikes lingering in ambiguity (not to mention conflict) for too long. I like to make a decision and move on. This has worked okay for me in the past as an individual contributor—I’ve mostly had to live with other people’s decisions. But now I’m a new manager, and I’m realizing my rapid-solution style may amount to sweeping things under the rug or letting them fester. How do I train myself to sit in conflict longer with my direct reports?
“Conflict” is a pretty broad term. It could mean that you and your employees disagreed in a meeting, and you’re finding it uncomfortable that some employees aren’t happy with your decision. Or it could mean that you keep making decisions that are upsetting your team, and you’re not leaving any room for further discussion. The former is more about you wanting to be liked. The latter is likely more serious. It’s about your team not feeling heard.
