Makarios Consulting Blog

Month: February 2015

Handling Conflict the VOMP Way

When conflicts arise, we must understand three ways to help diffuse them: 1) slow down our thinking so we can make rational decisions, 2) separate our needs from our wants, and 3) choose the right method to handle the given conflict. Once we have diffused the conflict, our next step is to actualize our understandings… Continue reading Handling Conflict the VOMP Way

Fight or Flight

When emotions are running high, our natural tendency is to speed up. Why? Because adrenaline is flooding our system and we are in pure fight-or-flight mode. The authors of “Crucial Conversations” put it this way: Countless generations of genetic shaping drives humans to handle crucial conversations with flying fists and fleet feet, not intelligent persuasion… Continue reading Fight or Flight

Sneaky Thoughts

It can be hard to separate our thoughts from our feelings about a situation, especially an emotionally charged conflict situation. We can be quick to feel, quick take offense, and quick to respond. All feelings and emotions are reactions to things that we think. The graphic below illustrates how we typically respond to stimuli, and… Continue reading Sneaky Thoughts

5 Methods of Handling Conflict

How do you respond to conflict? Are you quick to anger? Quick to give in? Do you avoid the situation altogether? Do you try to meet someone halfway, giving up a little in the hopes that your gain will be worth the sacrifice? Everyone responds to conflict differently, and our responses can often be merely… Continue reading 5 Methods of Handling Conflict