When your organization faces difficult decisions, or people don't see eye-to-eye on important actions, unproductive conflict can arise.

Conflict doesn't always look like fighting -- more often, it shows up as subtle signs like sniping, micro-aggression, or passive aggressive behaviors.

As a result conflict is often seen as a bad thing in companies and especially in leadership teams...

But is it?

Or can the conflict be a catalyst to something better for everyone?

Leaders should beware, because conflict can be very costly -- not only in the loss of productivity, but in the misalignment of leaders, and the lack of harmony in your organizational culture.

So what do you do when this kind of destructive conflict arises?

Unfortunately, most of the time, leaders do little or nothing, hoping that it will just fade away on its own.

Yet those interpersonal dynamics seldom heal themselves. If conflict is allowed to fester, it follows a predictable destructive path that becomes ever-more difficult to remedy.

As a leader, it's essential that you know how to resolve conflict rapidly, or you run the risk of unintentionally allowing a toxic culture to take hold.

If you'd like to enhance your understanding of conflict and how to navigate it, join us for our next leadership conversation, an open conversation with Susan Bernstein, MBA, PhD, a trusted guide on transforming conflict into collaboration..