Ever walked out of a meeting thinking everyone was aligned—only to realize the real conversation started in the hallway? That’s not alignment. That’s avoidance. And it’s killing your team’s potential.

In this kickoff episode of the Conflict IQ series, Colby Morris unpacks why most leaders get conflict wrong—and how you can build the intelligence to turn tension into trust. Drawing from research at Melbourne Business School, insights from Harvard Business Review, and Patrick Lencioni’s work on “healthy conflict,” this episode reframes conflict as a leadership superpower, not a liability.

You’ll discover:

• Why avoiding conflict creates disengagement—not peace.
• How Lencioni’s idea of “healthy conflict” changes everything about team dynamics.
• The four dimensions of Conflict IQ and what they look like in practice.
• Real-world stories of leaders who avoided conflict vs. those who leveraged it—and the very different outcomes they created.
• A simple, three-step action plan (“Name it. Frame it. Close it.”) you can start using in your next meeting.

Conflict doesn’t have to be messy, personal, or destructive. Handled well, it’s the fire that forges stronger ideas, stronger teams, and stronger leaders.

Question for you: When was the last time you avoided conflict—and what did it really cost you?

If this episode resonates, share it with another leader who needs to rethink their relationship with conflict. For more tools on people-first leadership, visit nxtstepadvisors.com

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