As
we continue to discuss conflict resolution in this class, I am having a harder
and harder time coming up professional examples from my own life. Since I
enlisted in the military right out of high school, I have no professional experience
outside of that structured environment. Sure, when I was a kid I had a part
time summer job but I don’t think that one could really consider being a teenage
ride operator at the local amusement park as a true professional experience. Oh,
I also worked as a pizza delivery driver for about six weeks one summer but I
can’t say that I experienced much conflict there. Obviously, there is indeed
conflict within the military but I still think that it is different from what I
would experience in another organization as lawful orders must be followed.
What I am finding, though, is that everything that we are discussing in the
class applies not just to the professional environment but to our personal
lives as well. For the most part, I am a pretty passive guy. I have no qualms
with engaging in close combat with the enemy on the battlefield but I hate
interpersonal conflict so I tend to go out of my way to avoid it usually but,
as has been established, conflict is natural and unavoidable. For the topic of
this blog, I have therefore chosen an example from my personal life. The topic
this week continues on one of the key topics from previous weeks – collaboration.
When we continue to have discussion after discussion on the same topic, though
it may sometimes begin to seem repetitive, it tells me one thing – it is
important. A couple of my friends that are kind enough to bear with me and
faithfully read my blog to encourage me through the process of this degree are
most certainly going to recognize this story of our collaboration!
Before
I became a recruiter, I was a paratrooper with the 5th Special
Forces Group (Airborne) out of Ft. Campbell, KY. I lived in a little city near
there called Hopkinsville, KY. Though I had my Army buddies, my absolute best
friends were friends that I met in the Hopkinsville Running Group (HRG). We did
a run every Saturday morning and Wednesday evening but we spent a significant
amount of time together outside of that so, after a few years, the bonds
between us were (and still are) quite strong. We had a friendly rivalry with
our sister running group one city over, the Clarksville Running Group. Since
Clarksville is a decent sized city, their group was quite a bit larger than
ours. Whereas we averaged six or seven on any given run, they averaged about
twenty. (When I moved to NYC, I ended up trying to run with the NY Roadrunners
but there are 66,000 members!) There is a huge relay race that takes place in
Kentucky called the Bourbon Chase. Running in that race is one of the most
exciting and rewarding experiences. Unfortunately, the HRG didn’t have enough
participants to have our own team. We had to collaborate and partner with the
Clarksville group in order to gain entry. Unfortunately, a few conflicts came
with that partnership. Logistics became a nightmare. We had to figure out who
could be on the team and who couldn’t (which was the biggest conflict),
transportation, accommodations, etc. We couldn’t just consider ourselves in the
process. We truly had to consider other stakeholders to effectively resolve the
conflicts and participate in the most amazing relay race ever! (And yes, you do
get to drink bourbon during the race after each leg.)
During
conflict resolution, I have identified five ways that stakeholder involvement
can help us make better decisions and show how they applied here. (This is my
own personal list.) First, other stakeholders can identify additional conflicts
that we otherwise probably would have overlooked. One of the runners with the
HRG is a journalist so, in the planning phase, he asked how we were planning to
document the event. Though documentation itself may not be a conflict, not
documenting it would have resulted in regret for all, I believe. Instead of us
all ending the event with just our memories, the event is now forever archived
in the Kentucky New Era newspaper. (That journalist went on to work for Condé
Nast, by the way.) Second, stakeholders can identify alternatives. Our plan
originally was to rent a couple of vans and a trailer for the group. One of the
wives of one of the members of the Clarksville group, however, came up with an
excellent idea. Instead of just renting two vans and a trailer, she recommended
that we forego the trailer and use their motorhome for both luggage storage and
a functional bathroom for the trip. Third, collaborating with stakeholders can
result in shared responsibility for burdens of implementation of a plan. In
this case, not only did we split costs, we also visited local businesses
soliciting sponsorships. We managed to find a sponsor that was willing to pay all
entry fees for participants so long as the CEO of the company was allowed to become
a team member. (He has since officially joined the HRG.) That is actually a
nice segue to my fourth point – collaboration with stakeholders leads to
increased production. With his contribution, we were able to afford to increase
our team size from 12 to 14. We previously had an “odd man out” situation as
you have to have an even number of participants. Last and perhaps most
important, collaboration with stakeholders results in the opportunity for
future collaboration on other projects. Though I am here in NYC now, the two
groups are in Memphis, TN right now preparing to run in the St. Jude Marathon
this weekend and have managed to raise an astounding $8,700 in addition to
having their entire trip funded!
Looking
back on this, I do regret not involving more people. I think that we could have
benefitted from the additional of a publicist and a CPA as we most likely could
have written off the expenditures that we did incur. However, those are lessons
that I can take forward with me in the future. That aside, there are three
things that I really learned from all of this.
1.
Never
underestimate the power of partnerships. (Through our partnerships, we had
increased comfort as well as a well documented experience.)
2.
Never
be afraid to ask for help. (Had we not asked, one of our teammates would have
missed out and our overall costs would have been much higher.)
3.
Always
seek to repeat successful collaborations for future events.
I am
proud to continue my partnership with the HRG. I will admit that the Bourbon
Chase Relay example doesn’t seem like much of a conflict but I am sure that you
can see the parallels and how my personally identified five advantages to
collaboration with stakeholders can benefit all during both personal and
professional conflict resolution.
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