How to Lead Well When Personalities Conflict: A Conversation with Donna Cross

If we’re honest, resolving difficult personality issues could be what holds us back from reaching our next level of leadership. Although we’d love to avoid conflict, we know that leaders need to handle disputes on teams, navigate personality clashes, and confront mistakes. If we’re not careful, we can unintentionally intensify the issues by allowing our own emotions and fears to surface.

How can we lead well in the midst of personality conflict? 

Donna Cross has been senior pastor at North Edmonton Christian Fellowship for over ten years and has learned some important lessons about conflict resolution. As a female in executive leadership, she has experienced the tensions of handling conflict. Her willingness to share from her past mistakes is so encouraging! We can do this well!  In this interview, Donna teaches four big insights that can help you navigate conflict with excellence. 

First, Donna encourages us all to consider that we don’t all process the same way. Often, men and women process conflict differently. With this understanding in mind, how can we shift our approach to help our team be most effective? We’re most successful when we can help each person process to their fullest.

Second, don’t take it personally! With personal examples, Donna shares how she has learned to separate her feelings in the midst of conflict. This can be incredibly difficult, especially when we do life with these people! We need to remind ourselves that a problem with a leadership decision isn’t necessarily an issue with us personally.

Third, there is safety in numbers. Although we’re naturally drawn to people that think the same way we do, this creates tunnel vision, a slippery slope for leaders. To be effective, we need people around us who will ask different questions, consider alternatives, and even challenge our ideas! Instead of taking it personally, embracing this concept creates a stronger team and a clearer vision.

When looking to add to your staff or team, Donna encourages us to be intentional about seeking out different perspectives.