What do mushrooms have to do with leadership?

Strangely, mushrooms grow best in the dark.

Fungi feed off the darkness, using it to sprout, grow and multiply.

And what do mushrooms have to do with leadership?

Like mushrooms, conflict also grows and multiplies when left in the dark – not the darkness of a damp cupboard, but more the metaphorical darkness of your silence.

You see, conflict thrives in your avoidance of it.

It feeds off your inner monologue (it’s ok – you’re not the only one who argues with colleagues in your head).

And it risks exploding into a mushroom cloud of rage if not brought into the light (especially if you tell Freddy in Finance and Helen in HR about it while you’re avoiding actually addressing it….)

Conflict can trigger fear in us and when we lead with fear, it’s not usually conducive to a collaborative approach.

Be honest, are you more likely to compete to be right or give a lip-service agreement because the awkwardness of disagreeing is bum-clenchingly uncomfortable?

Whether your default approach to conflict is more bull-in-a-china-shop or head-in-the-sand, it’s worth remembering two things:

Whatever your fear around conflict, the fear is usually worse than the reality.

FEAR = False Expectations Appearing Real.

AND:

Clarity is kind.

Wouldn’t you want to know if you needed to be doing something differently?

Whether we like it or not, disagreements are a fact of life.

When we learn how to disagree well, we stop putting those conversations off because we stop seeing them as difficult.

It’s time to get conflict out of the dark place of avoidance and shed some light on it through facing and understanding your fears and remembering that clarity is kind.

If you want to be an effective leader, there isn’t mushroom for unresolved conflict.

(Sorry, couldn’t help myself…)