When you can assure mother bear that she and her babies are safe, you are not likely to have any problems with ‘Momma Bear!’
People, like momma bears can be difficult to be around when they are afraid. You can try to reason with momma bear all day long and she will be impossible to deal with until you take away her fears. Humans are not so different in that respect. When you can address the fear or you can remove the fear, the other person will work with you in a completely different way.
The morale to all three of these examples is to IDENTIFY why this person is in fear.
People do not see things as they are. We see things as WE ARE. From our own experiences, our values, our beliefs, and our lessons in life, we all have our own criteria of how we see things. This means that we all see things from a different set of rules or criteria. We must be willing to see things from the other point of view if we really want to resolve conflict. Being able to Identify where their fear may be coming from will allow you to address the conflict differently. When you can identify the underlying issues, you are able to have clear communication and resolve the differences or at least agree to disagree on what you are in conflict over.
Let’s review the steps to take when we Identify the underlying fear fueling the conflict:
Why are they afraid?
- Why is this behavior showing up?
- What do they fear about this?
- How could I do things differently?
- What can I do to remove the fear and get back to addressing the issue?
We are glad you are with us on this four-part series on Conflict Resolution Tactics. If you have not watched the videos or read the previous two blogs in this series, go to the last two weeks, and get caught up. Also, stay tuned for Part 4 next week!