Important: This makeup form mirrors the structure and learning goals of the live Session 4 workshop. You are required to review each attached document and link in order and complete the related questions before moving on.

This activity will guide you through the same core components covered in the live workshop:

1. Emotional Intelligence Worksheet & Quiz
2. Thomas-Kilman Conflict Styles 
3. The Fish Game

Please answer each section fully and thoughtfully.

Empathy is the ability to sense other people's emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling. Whereas, emotional intelligence is the ability to be aware of, express, and manage one’s own emotions as well as the emotions of others in a positive way.

Now take a few moments to think about someone whom you consider to excel at attaining effective and productive relationships. What makes them so effective? Try to identify and describe the attitudes, values, skills, and knowledge that this person has.

Emotional Intelligence (EI or EQ) is broken down to into four key domains (or "quotients"): Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management

Now take a few minutes (this shouldn't take more than 10) to complete the Global Leadership Foundation's Emotional Intelligence Test.

Emotional Intellingence Test 

“Conflict situations” are those in which the concerns of two people appear to be incompatible.

In such conflict situations, we can describe an individual’s behavior along two dimensions: (1) assertiveness, the extent to which the person attempts to satisfy their own concerns, and (2) cooperativeness, the extent to which the person attempts to satisfy the other person’s concerns.

Each of us is capable of using all five conflict-handling modes. None of us can be characterized as having a single style of dealing with conflict. But certain people use some modes better than others and, therefore, tend to rely on those modes more heavily than others—whether because of temperament or practice.

Your conflict behavior in the workplace, for example, is therefore a result of both your personal predispositions and the requirements of the situation in which you find yourself.

Here is the axis of the conflict styles (without the styles defined):

Take a moment to read about each of the 5 conflict styles, and guess where each falls on the graph. I.e. Is Collaboration #3? Is Avoiding #2? 

• Accommodating is the complete opposite of competing. When accommodating, the individual neglects their own concerns to satisfy the concerns of the other person; there is an element of self-sacrifice in this mode. Accommodating might take the form of selfless generosity or charity, obeying another person’s order when you would prefer not to, or yielding to another’s point of view.
• Avoiding is when the person neither pursues their own concerns nor those of the other individual. Thus they do not deal with the conflict. Avoiding might take the form of diplomatically sidestepping an issue, postponing an issue until a better time, or simply withdrawing from a threatening situation.
• Collaborating involves an attempt to work with others to find some solution that fully satisfies their concerns. It means digging into an issue to pinpoint the underlying needs and wants of the two individuals. Collaborating between two persons might take the form of exploring a disagreement to learn from each other’s insights or trying to find a creative solution to an interpersonal problem.
• Competing is when an individual pursues their own concerns at the other person’s expense. This is a power-oriented mode in which you use whatever power seems appropriate to win your own position—your ability to argue, your rank, or economic sanctions. Competing means “standing up for your rights,” defending a position which you believe is correct, or simply trying to win.
• Compromising is when the objective is to find some expedient, mutually acceptable solution that partially satisfies both parties. It falls intermediate between competing and accommodating. Compromising gives up more than competing but less than accommodating. Likewise, it addresses an issue more directly than avoiding, but does not explore it in as much depth as collaborating. In some situations, compromising might mean splitting the difference between the two positions, exchanging concessions, or seeking a quick middle-ground solution.

Please note: Each of us is capable of using all five conflict-handling modes. None of us can be characterized as having a single style of dealing with conflict. But certain people use some modes better than others and, therefore, tend to rely on those modes more heavily than others — whether because of temperament or practice. Your conflict behavior in the workplace is therefore a result of both your personal predispositions and the requirements of the situation in which you find yourself. The Thomas-Kilmann Instrument is designed to measure your use of conflict-handling modes across a wide variety of group and organizational settings.

The Fish Game is most impactful when played in person, as conflict can be heightened, but there is much to take away from the Fish Game. The game is available online through the Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education. Take a few minutes to play a few rounds of the Fish Game, and reflect on what lessons can be learned in regards to conflict, empathy, and beyond. 

PLAY THE FISH GAME 

For your final reflection, think about how your emotional intelligence and conflict styles impact your leadership style, and respond to the "final shareout" prompt below.