From Diplomacy to Desktop: How to Keep the Peace at Work

The world never has a lack of armed conflicts. Ultimately, the root cause of these wars remains poor leadership, according to experts on peace and negotiation.

The irony: the exact same skills that help you grow as a leader for your team are the skills our political leaders need to solve global crises.

For example, in our podcast with Ambassador Thomas Greminger and Peter Cunningham—both from the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP)—we learned that two qualities, in particular, form the foundation for first-rate leadership: communication and empathy. Those same two qualities are vital for preventing any hostility within your own team, and resolving crises when they do appear.

Communication holds obvious benefits. Nothing disrupts trust in a leader faster than blindsiding a team member at work, a spouse at home, or a diplomat across the negotiating table. Consistent and clear communication informs the recipient of the facts you have on hand, the decisions you’ve made based on those facts, and the benefits you see in those decisions. In short, communication provides understanding.

Humans crave understanding and knowledge. When you withhold information, people fill those gaps with speculation. Your lack of communication provides fertile ground for sprouting rumors and gossip. In the workplace, morale crumbles. On the world stage, negotiation halts. In both cases, you’ve lost the superpower of trust.

On the other hand, when you’re forthright, authentic, and sharing the information behind your decisions, your team (or your political opposition) has a clear understanding of your goals. This helps them see the common ground between you. It’s the keystone in the bridging of gaps, and the first step toward creating a win for all parties.

Empathy provides the pillars on that bridge.

Empathy gifts us with the ability to see the world from another person’s perspective. This helps you grasp their motives and actual needs.  It also helps you dig deeper than their surface communication to glean the emotions creating the energy behind their actions. Through empathy, you find the common ground all humans share; this enables you to build bonds and trust that remain long after the latest employee review, contract, or treaty. You’ve built a true relationship.

This knowledge is nothing new. We’ve captured it for millennia in phrases from “Walk a mile in my shoes” to Stephen Covey’s “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Somehow, though, in every generation, our leaders forget this age-old wisdom.

From a fast food supervisor to a nation’s head of state, the fundamentals of outstanding leadership are the same. Perhaps, someday, extensive leadership education will be a prerequisite for every president and prime minister.

Do you have what it takes to be president, whether of your company or your nation? Take our free leadership mindsets assessment to find out. It’s available here.

If you’d like to learn more about resolving conflict, whether at work or in the world, we strongly recommend these podcasts in addition to our interview with Greminger and Cunningham:

–Finding Peace in Conflict: Northern Ireland and Beyond with John, Lord Alderdice

–Peace through Better Leaders with Mike Hardy, founding director of the Centre for Trust, Peace, & Social Relations at Coventry University

–Power, Charisma, Hormones: Science Studies Leadership with John Antonakis of the University of Lausanne

This article was adapted by Dan Mushalko from our podcast episode Empathy, Dialogue, & a Good Mood: An Ambassador Reveals What Leaders Need in Crisis.

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