The Called to Lead program sponsored a lecture entitled “Called to Lead: How Do You Handle Conflict?” at 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 18. The session was open to all students, not only participants in Called to Lead. The meeting focused on conflict as a necessity of life and the different strategies people use to deal with conflict in their everyday lives. Director of Called to Lead, Director of Religious Life, Lecturer in Religious Studies, and Chaplain Reverend Tracy Sadd led the discussion, explaining the benefits and effectiveness of good conflict-management skills in life and leadership. The main tool used in the session was the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, a test which aids in identifying someone’s preferred conflict resolution style.
Kenneth W. Thomas and Ralph H. Kilmann constructed the test to assess conflict-handling behavior in order to help people discover whether they are overusing or under-using the five conflict-handling modes. These modes are competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding and accommodating. Competing consists of high assertiveness and low cooperation, while accommodating consists of low assertiveness and high cooperation. The other three fall between these two extremes.
The Conflict Mode Instrument consists of 30 paired statements. Test participants are asked to consider the statements according to multiple situations in which they might find themselves. They are then asked to choose the one which they feel best defines how they would behave or react in the situation. It is similar to a personality test in these respects. Instead of being ranked according to personality traits, however, participants are ranked according to how they place in the percentile for each of the five conflict-handling modes.
All five of the conflict-handling modes are considered valid and appropriate in certain situations. While there are some situations where one tactic might work better than others, none of the five are “wrong.” Collaboration was long considered to be the “ideal” mode of conflict-resolution, but that is not the case any longer. While it is still an ideal to strive for, this can take a very long time to reach a resolution, because collaborators tend to search for the solution which will make all involved parties 100 percent happy. This resolution is not always possible. Sometimes it is better to avoid a conflict or to compromise on something instead. “The values of competing, directing and forcing are like the ER,” Sadd said. She explained that it is often better to have someone in charge of handling the conflict rather than trying to appease everyone involved.
While everyone has a personal preference to how they approach conflict, people’s responses to conflict can be trained. People can develop those conflict-handling modes they feel they do not use as often and improve on them as they would with any learned skill. Student participants were asked where sessions on conflict-handling modes could be taken in the future. Some of the suggestions included active or real-world application of these modes, studying the cultural engagement of different modes of conflict-handling and studying their context in different majors or years at the College.
Elizabethtown College’s Called to Lead program allows Etown students to explore leadership through life meaning, vocation and ethical and moral concerns. The Called to Lead program is an interdisciplinary program at the College involving faculty-led lecture sessions, academic courses, an academic mentoring program, a field trip, campus events, and networking dinners. These events help students involved in the program to earn points toward a certificate of completion and recognition when they graduate. The goals of the program include living out the “Educate for Service” mantra through leadership and helping students expand their leadership potential. Sadd founded the Called to Lead program and facilitated Monday evening’s event.
The next Called to Lead event is “Listening – The Premier Skill of Servant Leaders.” It will take place at 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 25 at 4 p.m. in Hoover 211, facilitated by Stacey Zimmerman, assistant director of the Called to Lead program.
