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Matt Jenkins
Introduction
Every day, leaders can influence and resolve conflicts. In the presented hypothetical, the
Police Chief brings in Mr. X, an expert in marksmanship, threat assessment, and non-lethal
strategies, to help keep the department safe as groups are calling for major changes to police use
of force policies. Mr. X proposes some policy and training changes. Jim, the head of SWAT
opposes the changes, which significantly impact his unit, and the hostility towards Mr. X was
present during the first group meeting. The Chief has ordered a one-on-one meeting between
Jim and me to smooth things over and to convince Jim to embrace Mr. X’s strategies. Cloke and
Goldmsith (2011) offer six competencies of leaders as conflicts resolvers, and three
competencies emerge as strategies to achieve a positive attitude and buy-in from Jim– master the
context, communicate with meaning, and create a vision for the future.
For Jim, the proposed changes affect the core of his identity as a retired green beret and
the head of the SWAT team and seemingly diminish his team's duty to keep members of the
department safe. The tensions between Jim and Mr. X are originating in the broader social
context that is playing out in the City and across the nation with continued shootings of unarmed
civilians. To mitigate the tension and build bridges between the two, using the competency
master the context will allow for the larger contextual elements in conflict to be identified and
addressed, which will enable them to be used to inform the problem solving (Cloke and
Goldsmith, 2011, p. 247). This competency allows Jim to be heard and actively gathers his input,
which could lead to identifying unifying elements that would bring the two sides together.
LEADERS AS CONFLICT RESOLVERS 3
The second competency that will help achieve the desired outcome is communicate with
meaning. When communicating with meaning, a leader seeks the support, trust, and value the
integrity and trustworthiness of those they are working with (Cloke and Goldsmith, 2011, p.
248). Trust is achieved through empathetic listening and honest dialogue, and disagreements and
conflicts are constructively used to develop innovative and collaborative solutions. By having an
honest dialogue and allowing for disagreements in the one-on-one meeting, Jim will have the
opportunity to have his dissentions heard, while at the same time, feedback can be provided to
The third competency, create a vision of the future, seeks to remind Jim of the larger
purpose and encourages him to rise above grievousness for an inspiring future. The purpose of
using this competency is to have Jim let go of past practices and expectations that conflict with
the new organizational direction and to show him that it is possible for him to learn from Mr. X.
Additionally, he can use his knowledge and skills to work collaboratively with Mr. X.
Ultimately, a clear and unified vision of the future can reveal that it is possible for each to learn
Conclusion
Using competencies from Cloke and Goldsmith (2011), Jim can walk away from the
one-on-one meeting with a positive attitude and buy-in to the new policy and training changes
that Mr. X proposed. As head of SWAT, his buy-in is critical as the Chief moves forward with
References
Cloke, K. and Goldsmith, J. (2011). Resolving Conflicts at Work: Ten Strategies for Everyone