managing conflict in interpersonal relationships gender quotes

None of us is perfect when it comes to navigating the complexity of human relationships. For example, as Christine Porath wrote for the New York Times, in “a survey of more than 4,500 doctors, nurses and other hospital personnel, 71 percent tied disruptive behavior, such as abusive, condescending or insulting personal conduct, to medical errors, and 27 percent tied such behavior to patient deaths.” But those responses can lead to a host of bad outcomes, including reduced creativity, slower and worse decision-making, and even fatal mistakes. Instead we spend time worrying, react in regrettable ways that violate our values, avoid difficult colleagues, and sometimes even withdraw from work entirely.

Trapped in these negative dynamics, we find it hard to be our best selves or to improve the situation. workers-indicated that their top source of tension on the job was relationships. In one study 94% of respondents said they had worked with a “toxic” person in the previous five years. Interpersonal conflicts like that-with insecure bosses, know-it-all colleagues, passive-aggressive peers-are common at work, and it’s easy to get caught up in them. The minute she insinuated that I wasn’t working hard enough, I would clench my teeth, roll my eyes behind her back, and complain about her to my coworkers. But more often than not those lofty intentions flew out the window. I vowed to stop caring so much about how she acted and to treat her with kindness. She would scroll through colleagues’ calendars and point out how little they’d accomplished despite having a meeting-free day. She disparaged my teammates in front of me, questioning their work ethic and commitment to the company. She often followed up at 8:30 AM on a request she’d made at 6:00 the night before. Her assumptions about what could get done in a day were wildly unreasonable. I could see the best in everyone.Įlise worked long days and on weekends and expected her team to do the same. I prided myself on being able to get along with anyone.

Plenty of people warned me that she would be hard to work with, but I thought I could handle it. Early in my career I took a job reporting to someone who had a reputation for being difficult.

Managing conflict in interpersonal relationships gender quotes