When we encounter conflict, it is easy to take things personally, which can lead to name-calling, frustration, and general breakdown.
When dealing with a frustrating situation, if you would like to make traction, then do your best to isolate actions from your identity and to attack ideas, not people.
My simple suggestion is to acknowledge the other person and when talking about the frustration, identify what specifically is causing the friction. (e.g. When we are in lecture and I see you roll your eyes, I find it disrespectful. ) This allows a person to work on a specific action, rather than feeling that you don’t like a character trait that the person has.
– Bill Johnson, Leadership Facilitator
