Reflective Writing Assignment

Engaging in this reflective writing assignment is an opportunity to examine consistent themes that have evolved in the larger context of what I have learned regarding my professional practice from the material presented in GBLD 522 - Managing Difficult Relationships Within and Across Community Dynamics. Additionally, it is an opportunity to reflect on these learnings in the context of the completion my MAIS program which has had a continuing emphasis and focus on the analysis, management and transformation of conflict. I will take the feedback shared in our team Queenston assignments and limit my scope to the reflections directly regarding the connection of leadership and conflict transformation. In this paper, I will share my understanding

Mayer’s definition of conflict as, “A necessary ingredient in the growth and development of individuals, families, communities, and societies.” (Mayer, 2012, p. 310) exemplified this to me. This perspective also emphasized the need to understand that not everyone I interact with will share this perspective. This was exemplified in week 7 when a member of the cohort and my team member posted a comment pertaining to conflict. The instructors response, “Sure, we can go back to Hobbes and assume that life is nasty, brutish and short.” (Malicius, 2018), was an actual quote I wrote and retracted because of my concern of how it would be interpreted and affect my interactions moving forward. My growth and learning from this is to be aware of my own perspective regarding the nature of conflict and create strategies to engage when I see reductionist processes at play. As Mayer (2012) stated, “People in conflict can and often must prepare to cooperate and to contest at the same time (p. 81)”. Not only has this helped me reflect how this affects teamwork, but it exemplified my deeper learning around the implications of how complex situations must be

Ury (2018) describes the third side as the emergent will of the community, which is an impulse that arises from the vital relationships linking each member and every other member of the community. A key learning regarding how to lead in conflict and an important take away from the course, has been how to best frame and facilitate these relationships. In our week 7’s readings, the work of Monö (2014) regarding moving beyond leadership and followership addressed a variety of ways a community and/or a conflict interventionist can communicate their leadership needs in a collaborative manner. The idea of collaborationship, where people who share a common vision or goal unite to build synergies (p. 29), along with the notion of shifting leadership which sees leadership as a tool used to build strong collaborationship was a critical insight for me because it made me question how this was communicated. This fits into Mayer’s (2012) notion that, “A healthy system of conflict intervention offers a multiplicity of roles to assist people and systems in dealing with conflict (p. 164). This exemplified my understanding of the importance of embracing a patient, interdisciplinary approach to engaging conflict. The role of communication in this process is a key learning about how to transition academic theories into