Discover Your Conflict Management Style [Paperback]

Speed B. Leas (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 44 pages
• Publisher: Alban Inst; Revised edition (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566991846
• ISBN-13: 978-1566991841
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #48,246 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Business & Investing > Investing > General

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't avoid this..., November 7, 2003

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Discover Your Conflict Management Style (Paperback)

Speed Leas' book on conflict management is used in many settings, but is perhaps best known in seminary and church contexts. It is used at my seminary as part of the basic ministry class, to enable students to learn about their own conflict management styles directly before assuming a role in churches or classrooms where they will have to be the ones managing other conflicts (which may or may not involve them directly).

There is a 45-question inventory of couplet questions that the reader is asked to complete prior to reading the short, 40-page text. (From a design standpoint, one might ask why this is in the back of the book, rather than the first thing presented.) This will give clues based on the six styles of conflict management where the reader falls within the categories. It is not a rigid classification system -- my own completion showed an equal high score in three of the six categories, and a tie for second place for two others.

The six categories are Persuasion, Compulsion, Avoidance/Accommodation, Collaboration, Negotiation, and Support. Most people will recognise that their own conflict management styles are a combination of these types, which get defined carefully and described in some detail despite the low number of pages in the text. Most people will however tend toward a few types of conflict management -- Leas gives clues as to how one can improve, both within and outside of the category. Leas shows the benefits of each style and the drawbacks of each style.

Effective use of this tool requires honesty on the part of the reader. One can decide to be a collaborator or a supporter, but one should honestly answer the questions and recognise the starting point. One person I know who took the test answered as he believed the seminary class wanted him to answer, and chose which group he thought would be best to join. This, of course, belies the intention of this teaching tool, but the incident did demonstrate clearly his real categorisation (that of compulsion).

As is pointed out in the text, the best time to use this tool for learning about conflict management is not in the midst of a conflict, but rather before such conflicts happen. Learning from this text, the reader will learn to manage people's conflicts more wisely, first by understanding one's own style, but also from gaining insights into the behaviours of others. Leading all to a more satisfactory conclusion is a desirable outcome in any organisation, secular or ecclesiastical.

Speed Leas is an educator and consultant experienced over many decades of teaching and working with church and other organisations. Sponsored in this project by the Alban Institute, Leas has produced an ideal tool for use with leadership groups, church groups, academic groups, boards, and any other group or community (which is, in fact, all of them) where people might disagree and where conflict might arise. It is short (which is good for those with busy schedules, who find it difficult to find the time for reading), it is to-the-point and direct in its language (not bogging down in theory or speculation too much), and it is practical.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excelent instrument to help one understand one's behavior, February 22, 2000

By 

Ethan E. Brown "Propably not quite as helpful... (Lubbock, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Discover Your Conflict Management Style (Paperback)

This tool breaks conflict managment into six styles. It contains an instrument (a self test) to help one determine what is one's dominate style. It also contains detailed descriptions of each style of conflict managment, situations in which each style is strong, and situations in which each style should not be used. A wonderful tool to use in management groups which have difficulty with latent conflict; it may help participants to determine what behaviors are maintaining the conflict.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent on Conflict Styles and Levels of Conflict, February 14, 2002

By 

Dr. Carlus Gupton "www.lifeandleadership.com" (Knoxville, Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Discover Your Conflict Management Style (Paperback)

Often read as a companion to Moving Your Church Through Conflict, this book gives a more thorough description of six styles of approaching conflict: persuading, compelling, avoiding/accommodating, collaborating, negotiating, and supporting. Each of them is defined, with suggestions as to how and when to use them, and the probable outcomes one can expect. A self-scoring inventory is included. This is a brief book (only 44 pages), but what it lacks in size it makes up for in practicality. No church leader should be without this resource.