Power of Confrontation

Okay! Let’s see this, what have you got? said Stephen with a tone that is as sharp as knife. Mary hesitantly said, “yes, sure. I wanted to talk about the role conflicts in couple of accounts”. Oh! Let’s not talk about it now! I have priority meetings, is there anything pressing for today? Stephen asked Mary. No! nothing, all good! Thank you for your time! Mary stepped out of Stephen office with a pensive look of helplessness.

Stephen had, hard long day, he closed his office at around 12 in the midnight, he started the ignition of his car and thought about Mary. He knew its important topic that Mary brought in, but something stopped him. What it could be? Is it because, he doesn’t have immediate answer for it? Or is it because he doesn’t want to confront!

Confrontation is about facing the situation face to face. It’s about ability to be silent for some time, thinking on something that is mostly dealing with human emotions, and about making situations work with mutual consensus. Yes, It’s a skill! One earns it through experience with a goal of restoration of trust between parties.

Leading at speed of growth is not just about moving fast with technology, it’s also about connecting with people for developing mutual trust in working relationship. Lot of times, most important conversations do not happen in an assumption that it is underline or with a convenient belief that “people will do when I say”.

For any leader, confrontation is critical skill and it must be concisely be practiced. It can start with a simple statement “I don’t have experience in this, can you help me learn” and ranging up to a complex situation of dealing with cold war inside in your teams.

So, how does one practice confrontation. Here are simple tips, that you may want to consider starting with:

• Preparation: Confrontation requires thorough preparation, from facts and feelings perspective. Only you know yourself better, so you should understand what triggers your ‘anger’ emotion and how you would like to handle it. Ensure that you go on short walk from your desk before the meeting,