Leaders and Conflict – Mr. Negative

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Leaders and Conflict – Mr. Negative

Every organization has one. You know, the person who always says no. Anyone with an idea is grist for his mill and he will grind them to dust. The only reason for discussion is to express how much this person disagrees.

Mr. Negative will suck the life out of your efforts to encourage debate. This guy is not healthy conflict. Quite the opposite. If left unchecked, before long he’ll have created such a toxic environment that no one will want to speak up.

You need to identify this person quickly. Mr. Negative isn’t hard to spot. He usually has a cloud over his head and tends to darken a room just by walking in. People tend to shy away from him, which interestingly enough makes him even worse.

Meet him head on. It may be unpleasant at first, but get to know him. Some people are just negative by nature, but often there’s a reason for the negativity. Perhaps they feel they were slighted or passed-over at some point. Maybe they have more personal issues that are affecting them. I’m not suggesting you become his councilor; just learn enough to help you execute the next step.

Once you have gotten to know him a little, find a time or issue that seems to fit him and seek his opinion. When he gives a negative response, ask him to clarify and defend his position. Try hard to find something in what he says to agree with. It may be difficult, but take what he says seriously. Next time, encourage him to contribute again. Over time, his contributions will most likely be much more valuable and you’ll notice the negativity start to decline.