Disagree and Commit

Most teams do not fail because they have conflict. They fail because they have the wrong conflicts and/or avoid the right conflicts. The highest-performing teams learn how to: 

• Surface differences early
• Debate ideas productively
• Address tension directly before it becomes personal or political

In this session, you will learn how conflict actually works inside teams. Conflict can start with the fast emotional reactions that shape our behavior in disagreement. We’ll also explore the predictable conflict patterns that cause teams to either avoid issues or escalate them in unproductive ways. You will learn how to: 

• Regulate your own reactions
• Engage in high-value disagreements
• Lead courageous conversations that strengthen rather than damage working relationships

You will leave with practical tools to transform conflict in your workplace. We will explore how to move from a fear of conflict to using it productively. This will help you improve decision quality, innovation and long-term team effectiveness.

Audience:

Any U-M faculty or staff member who would like to increase their workplace conflict resolution skills

Program Note:

This session is part of Lead Forward, a webinar series open to faculty and staff across all three campuses and Michigan Medicine.

Presenter Bio:

Dr. Lindy Greer is an award-winning leadership expert with one foot in rigorous academic research and one foot in the executive suites of global organizations. She is the Gerald and Esther Carey Chair of Business Administration and Professor of Management & Organizations at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, where she also serves as faculty director of the Sanger Leadership Center.

Her work centers on how power, hierarchy, and decision rights actually operate inside leadership teams and how organizations can make power dynamic rather than dysfunctional. Drawing on more than 15 years of research, teaching, and advisory work, Lindy helps senior leaders build high-performing teams, accelerate decision velocity, and lead culture transformations rooted in collaboration and accountability.

Through Michigan Ross Executive Education, she regularly coaches C-suite teams and designs senior leadership development programs for some of the world’s most influential companies. She has directed or delivered programs for organizations including Google, Amazon, ExxonMobil, Saudi Aramco, General Motors, ABN AMRO, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Boston Consulting Group, Ernst & Young, KPMG, Oracle, Shell, the National Football League, and the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Her research has reshaped how scholars and executives understand leadership dynamics and team performance, earning numerous awards for both scholarly impact and real-world influence. She has been named one of Poets & Quants’ Top 40 Under 40 Business School Professors and one of Thinkers50 Radar’s Top 30 Management Thinkers to Watch.

Prior to joining Michigan Ross, Lindy was on the faculty at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she developed and taught The Psychology of Start-up Teams and advised numerous early-stage ventures. She holds a B.S. in economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in social and organizational psychology from Leiden University. She is the author of the upcoming book Toggle: How to Adapt Your Power, Be a Better Teammate, and Win at Work, which translates her research into practical tools leaders can apply immediately.