Conflict is normal in all human relationships and is a sign of human diversity. It is often the responsibility of leaders in organizations to intervene in conflicts and ensure they do not escalate to disputes and find amicable solutions to the conflicts. Contrary to popular belief, not all forms of conflict are negative and some provide an opportunity for growth and transformation within an organization (Porter-O'Grady & Malloch, 2010) . Thus, leaders should have good conflict management skills and should view conflict as an opportunity to portray good leadership.
To harness the transformational power of conflicts, leaders should provide an environment that promotes healthy disagreements. However, some disagreements can quickly escalate into disputes. Thus, a leader should understand the patterns of escalation and ensure that only legitimate disputes reach courts (McCormick & Davenport, 2003) . Conflicts can arise from various factors such as race, culture, personal beliefs, income groups and politics (Porter-O'Grady & Malloch, 2010) . Given the varying reasons, researchers have classified organizational conflicts into intellectual and interpersonal conflicts. Interpersonal conflicts result from personal issues such as ego, identity, personality or because two people dislike or feel threatened by each other. Interpersonal conflicts are rarely beneficial since they not based on concepts that are best for the organization or whose idea has more merit. Rather, they are based on destroying each other and are never beneficial to persons involved.
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Conversely, intellectual conflicts can result in positive outcomes when managed properly. Therefore, good leaders should foster an environment that promotes more intellectual and less interpersonal conflicts. Intellectual conflicts should be governed by a set of social rules where the leader takes a neutral position and acts as a referee in a sporting match (McCormick & Davenport, 2003) . The main purpose of the leader is to outline the line between intellectual and interpersonal conflict. One of the best ways to minimize interpersonal conflicts is by creating a culture of open communication. Creating an environment where certain issues cannot be discussed is one way of breeding conflicts. Hence, leaders should encourage their subordinates to speak up openly on all issues to avoid unnecessary conflicts. Leaders are very influential and should ensure that they set the tone for others in the way they relate and communicate with others. Secondly, leaders should ensure that professional and organizational goals are congruent (Porter-O'Grady & Malloch, 2010) . The objective is to eliminate competitive goals that encourage conflict and encourage complementary goals that avert conflict. Where there are similar goals people will be more cooperative, open and supportive of each other and tend to be less frustrated. With this in place, a leader will create an environment that encourages more intellectual and less interpersonal conflicts.
Just as leaders are tasked with encouraging beneficial conflicts, it is also their responsibility to resolve the conflicts. The first point in conflict resolution is listening to both parties separately to understand their point of view. The second step is setting a table where parties involved are invited and encouraged to discuss the problem, understand each other and find a possible solution (McCormick & Davenport, 2003) . Here the leader acts as the mediator in the dispute and their sole purpose is to actively listen to both parties. The next step is creating an environment that urges the parties involved to air their viewpoints. Once together, the parties should be encouraged to recall the onset of the dispute and perspectives. The success of the intervention is based on the subordinate’s perception of the leader’s neutrality in interacting with the subordinates. Thus, the leader should avoid any form of discrimination for either party involved (Jit, Sharma & Kawatra, 2016 ). Communication is vital in the process since most conflicts result from miscommunication and misunderstandings. As a result, some conflicts end when a forum is created and information is analyzed and clarified. Additionally, once at the table, both parties tend to understand how the other is hurting and emotional outbursts are common. A good leader ensures that emotions do not escalate the situation out of control.
A good leader should also be able to churn out good intentions and negative impacts from the forum. It is common for parties in a conflict to attempt and preserve their image by justifying that their actions were based on good intentions. However, personal intentions do not always result in positive outcomes. A leader should appreciate the good intentions and also outline the negative impacts. This is essential in identifying parties that intentionally meant harm for the other and find ways to rectify the situation (McCormick & Davenport, 2003) . At the end of the forum, the leader should invite an apology and encourage some healing words. In most times this marks the end of the dispute. Nonetheless, some parties may object to this and the leader may be forced to act as an arbitrator rather than a mediator. The leader asserts his/her authority and proposes a solution to the dispute and encourages each party to accept the verdict. Additionally, the leader may opt to separate the conflicting parties for the well-being of the organization (Jit, Sharma & Kawatra, 2016 ). Moreover, the leader may opt to reallocate work in such a way that the parties in conflict do not interact with each other.
References
Jit, R., Sharma, C. S., & Kawatra, M. (2016). Servant leadership and conflict resolution: a qualitative study. International Journal of Conflict Management , 27 (4), 591-612 . https://doi.org/10.1108/ijcma-12-2015-0086
McCormick, B., & Davenport, D. (2003). Shepherds transform conflict. In Shepherd Leadership: Wisdom for Leaders from Psalm 23 (pp. 69-77). John Wiley & Sons.
Porter-O'Grady, T., & Malloch, K. (2010). The leader as a peacemaker: Managing conflicts of a multifocal workplace. In Quantum Leadership (pp. 81-118). Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
