Chapter 16 – Skills for Optimizing Leadership as Situations Change
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Part 4: Focus on the Situation
Chapter 16: Skills for Optimizing Leadership as
Situations Change
Leader
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Overview of Chapter 16 Skills for Optimizing Leadership as Situations
Change
Similar to the overviews we presented in Chapters 3, 8, and 11, the ensuing paragraphs outline
what is contained in this chapter, Chapter 16 – Skills for Optimizing Leadership as Situations
Change. The intent of this chapter is to align the skills and the associated exercises most relevant
The included skills are designed to be integrated with the material from the relevant chapters of
the text; therefore, we focus exclusively on presenting an outline of the skills, as well as
Chapter 16 – Skills for Optimizing Leadership as Situations Change
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Chapter 16 – Skills for Optimizing Leadership as Situations Change Outline
Creating a Compelling Vision
Ideas: The Future Picture
Expectations: Values and Performance Standards
Emotional Energy: The Power and the Passion
Edge: Stories, Analogies, and Metaphors
Managing Conflict
What is Conflict?
Is Conflict Always Bad?
Conflict Resolution Strategies
Team Building at the Top
Executive Teams are Different
Applying Individual Skills and Team Skills
Trip wire Lessons
Trip wire 1: Call the performing unit a team but really manage members as individuals
Trip wire 2: Create an inappropriate authority balance
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Overview of the Learning Resources for Part 4 Leadership Skills
Exercise 16-1: Conflict Styles Inventory. This self-assessment provides students with feedback on their
preferred conflict management styles and the recommended styles for dealing with various conflict
situations. Students spend 30 minutes in class discussing their results.
Exercise 16-3: Competition and Cooperation at Work. This 40 minute experiential exercise is a variation
Exercise 16-4: Diagnosing Performance Problems. In this 55 minute exercise, instructors diagnose a real
Exercise 16-5: Building Development Plans. This write-up includes a sample development plan,
Exercise 16-6: The Hot Stove Rule. This write-up outlines six rules for administering punishment. It takes
about 10 minutes to review the rules in class.
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Part 4 Leadership Skills Exercises & Instructions
Exercise 16-1
Exercise Title: Conflict Styles Inventory
Purpose: To provide students with information about their preferences for dealing with conflict.
Summary: The best way to do this exercise is to pass out the Conflict Styles Inventory and Scoring Keys
as a homework assignment. It will take students about 25 minutes to read through the scenarios and score
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Conflict Styles Inventory
Name: _______________________________
by
Gordy Curphy, PhD
Curphy Consulting Corporation
Chapter 16 – Skills for Optimizing Leadership as Situations Change
Instructions: The Conflict Styles Inventory consists of eight common community conflict situations. After
reading each situation, you will need to choose one of four different options for dealing with the conflict.
Please keep in mind that none of the options may describe exactly how you would deal with the conflict
situation. In this case, you should choose the option that comes closest to what you would do if
confronted with a similar conflict situation.
In addition, you should base your responses on how you would react if you were the person in the
scenario. You should ignore your past experience with or particular feelings about the issue and choose
the option that best describes how you would react if you were the person in the conflict situation.
1. A long-time high school principal has announced his retirement. He was respected by his
students and loved by his staff and community. The superintendent and school board realized
that they had to fill the position with someone of equal caliber. In order to help with this process,
the superintendent is putting together a task force of 21 community and school members to
review and make recommendations about candidates for the position. You have lived in the
community for six years, but you do not have strong relationships with the superintendent or
members of the community. You also do not have strong feelings about the school district or
who becomes the next high school principal. The superintendent has asked you to lead the task
force, but frankly there are a number of other things that you would rather be doing. How would
you respond to his request?
A. Thank the superintendent for the opportunity but respectfully decline.
2. A group of teenagers and parents have been raising funds for the construction of a local teen
center and skateboard park. The leader of the fund-raising effort is also a good personal friend
of yours. You do not have any children still at home, and you are more or less indifferent to the
new facility. However, some other members of the community think a new teen center will only
cause problems, and they have started writing letters to the local newspaper to get citizens to
stop contributing money to the construction project. A prominent member of the community, who
also happens to be a close friend, has asked you to write a letter to the editor in support of the
teen center. What would you do?
A. Tell your friend that you not a very good writer and are very busy over the next few weeks.
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3. The local school district has been facing declining enrollment over the past ten years. In
order to deal with shrinking budgets, the school board has decided to close two of the five
elementary schools in the district. This would save the district a considerable amount of money,
but your two children would need to take a bus instead of walking to school. In addition, their
class sizes would increase from an average of 18 to 31 per class. One of the key reasons you
moved into the neighborhood was because of its proximity to and reputation of the local
elementary school. Since you are relatively new to the community, you do not have strong
connections with school board members or school administrators. How would you deal with this
conflict?
4. A mid-sized community was approaching its centennial celebration. As an active member of
the community and city council, you have often expressed that the city is starting to show its
age. You are worried that former residents returning home for the celebration would be
disappointed with the community’s general, run-down appearance. You want the city council to
set aside $50,000 for a city beautification project. One of your good friends, another city council
member, believes the $50,000 would be better spent improving the community’s infrastructure.
How would you handle this conflict?
5. A small group of individuals have been trying to recruit new members to their service
organization. You know very little about the organization, and right now most of your free time is
taken up doing volunteer work at one of the local nursing homes. An acquaintance of yours,
someone you see socially once or twice a year, has asked if you would be interested in joining
the service organization. The reality is that this is something you have little time for, and you do
not want to give up your volunteer work at the nursing home. How do you respond to his
request?
Chapter 16 – Skills for Optimizing Leadership as Situations Change
6. Your community has seen little economic expansion over the past few years and the mayor
has been working very hard to attract new businesses into town. She recently got a sportswear
manufacturing company to consider building a facility in town, but only if the community
provided $60,000 worth of property and infrastructure necessary for the building. You have been
working in the community for the past 12 years and have a very secure job, and you have no
firm position on this economic expansion project. The mayor is a close personal friend of yours,
and she has asked you for your support at the upcoming city council meeting. How should you
respond to the mayor’s request?
7. A large meat processing facility recently moved into your small rural community. The
company is by far the town’s largest employer, and people commute from over 30 miles away to
work for the company. The facility is such a large employer that the town has seen a
tremendous influx of minorities. In order to better accommodate the new members of the
community, the city council has proposed building a large affordable housing complex a few
blocks from your home. It is very likely that the complex will drive down the value of your home
by over 30 percent. You were looking forward to selling your home and retiring to Arizona in five
years, but are not sure you will be able to do this if the affordable housing complex is built. A
group of neighbors have banded together to pressure the city council to withdraw his proposal
for the complex. One of your neighbors has asked you to join the group, and you feel strongly
that the complex should not be built in your neighborhood. You do not have strong relationships
with anyone on the city council. How would you respond to your neighbor’s request?
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8. Your community is made up of a small downtown district dominated by family–owned
businesses. Your community was recently approached by a large discount retailer, Wal-Shop, to
set–up a store next to the main highway on the outskirts of the town. The new store would likely
lower prices on a number of consumer goods and would provide an additional 250 jobs to the
local economy. You own the local hardware store, and this new store would likely have a direct
effect on your sales. You are adamant that the new store not be built in the local community,
and you are leading a group of local citizens and business who are opposed to the new Wal-
Shop. Several key city council members are your good friends, and they support the building of
the new Wal-Shop. There is a key city council meeting on the issue tomorrow. How should you
resolve the conflict that is likely to occur in the meeting?
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Scoring Keys for the Conflict Styles Inventory
There are two different ways to score the Conflict Styles Inventory, and these include the
Preferred Conflict Styles and Recommended Conflict Styles keys. The Preferred Conflict Styles
key indicates your predominate ways for dealing with conflict. Everyone tends to have one or
two ways they prefer to deal with conflict, and as a result, they also tend to overlook using some
of the other ways to deal with conflict. It is important for people to understand their preferred and
more neglected conflict management styles.
Follow the instructions below to determine your Preferred Conflict Styles:
1. Record the number of A, B, C, and D responses to questions 1-8 in the space below:
A: _____ B: _____ C: _____ D: _____
2. Plot the number of A-Ds on the graph below:
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
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In addition to your preferred ways of dealing with conflict, some ways of dealing with conflict can
be more effective at resolving issues while maintaining relationships, than others. The two key
Follow the instructions below to determine the Recommended Conflict Styles:
1. _____ = the number of times you chose the right response to each of the scenarios:
1. A (Avoidance; low relationship, low issue importance)
2. B (Accommodation; high relationship, low issue importance)
2. Benchmark your score using the scale below:
6-8 You do a very good job flexing your conflict management styles to the demands of the
situation. You will likely be seen as someone who does a good job resolving issues
and maintaining relationships.
Chapter 16 – Skills for Optimizing Leadership as Situations Change
The Four Conflict Management Styles
Avoidance: In this conflict management style, you simply avoid the other party and even
naming the conflict. An example here might be to walk across the street to avoid running into
Accommodation: In this conflict management style, you give in on the issue in order to
maintain or grow the relationship you share with the other party. You may disagree with the
other party’s position on the issue, but the importance of the relationship outweighs the need to
Competition: With this style, the issue becomes so important that you feel you need to win
even if it costs you the relationship with the other party. In many cases, the relationship with the
no concern, and as a result oftentimes may win the battle, but just as often lose the war.
Compromise/Collaboration: Sometimes both the relationship and the issue may be important
to you. In these cases, the compromise/collaboration conflict management strategy is often the
most effective, as it helps you gain some or all of what you want on the issue while maintaining
strong relationships with the other party. In collaborative situations, both parties work hard to