Competition and conflict have something in common.
Last week in Augusta, Georgia was the 73rd annual golf tournament known as The Masters, which many would say is golf’s most important contest of the year. The final round on Sunday was among the most exciting ever played.
One of the reasons is because the sport’s two highest-ranked players and longtime rivals – Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson – were paired to play together.
Going into the final round they were both seven strokes behind the leaders, and prospects for either winning the tournament seemed extremely remote.
But Mickelson caught fire, shooting six birdies in the first nine holes and setting a course-record score of 30 on the front nine to pull within one stroke of the lead. Tiger played well too, eventually closing to within one stroke of the lead as well.
It was riveting. The two pushed each other and stayed in contention to win until almost the very end of their round.
After Tiger and Phil came up short, the competition stayed captivating. Regulation play ended in a three-way tie among the leaders forcing a sudden death playoff.
The winner was Angel Cabrera, an Argentinean nicknamed El Pato or “The Duck” because of his stocky build and distinctive walking style. He managed the pressure of intense, prolonged competition better than the others, and earned the right to don and keep forever a custom tailored version of one of the most exclusive and distinctive-if not quite fashionable-of all sports garments: The famed Augusta National Country Club green sports jacket, one of which goes to the winner of each year’s tournament.
This is what competition in sports is supposed to be like, with athletes pushing each other to excel, handling intense pressure, and reaching for extraordinary performance outcomes.
When it comes to managing conflict and dealing with difficult people, we can all take a cue from the “masters” at The Masters: Tiger, Phil, Angel and many others at Augusta last week.
Conflict in organizations is supposed to be like competition in sports.
Like competition does for athletes, conflict in organizations is supposed to bring out the best in us. It’s supposed to create opportunities. It’s supposed to produce better results. It’s supposed to help us learn, strive and excel.
Excellent competition makes sports better, just like excellent conflict makes organizations better. That’s why it’s so important to keep developing one’s skills for managing conflict and dealing with difficult people at work.
If your conflicts at work aren’t consistently producing better results, higher morale, more energized learning and development, then you’re experiencing what we refer to as “negative conflict” instead of “creative conflict.”
Don’t settle for negative conflict. It’s bad, and it gets worse. Instead, take a lesson from The Masters.
John Ullmen Ph.D. is a business author, speaker and internationally acclaimed executive coach. His speeches, seminars and consulting focus areas include leadership, teamwork, conflict, and communication. He lectures on leadership at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Visit the highly acclaimed Who Wins? (R) Blog: http://whowinsconflict.com/dealing-with-difficult-people/ Learn more about solutions for managing conflict and dealing with difficult people for your organization at http://www.WhoWinsConflict.com