当巨人相撞时
管理高管冲突以建立更具活力的组织
“当冲突被忽视时——尤其是在高层——结果就是企业与自己竞争比与竞争对手竞争更激烈。”
-霍华德·M·格特曼
“据估计，管理者将 20% 的时间花在冲突或管理冲突上。从盈利能力的角度来看，一位年薪 15 万美元的管理者将在冲突上浪费 3 万美元。如果您的公司有 10 名管理者，那么这将对您的利润造成 30 万美元的损失。”
“管理高管冲突” - 解锁高绩效团队
About When Goliaths Clash
"Conflict in the executive ranks often snakes its way down to the trenches, polarizing entire organizations and undermining morale, productivity, and corporate goals. But managed correctly, the passion that powers these conflicts can be turned into a high-performance fuel that transforms not just executive relationships but the mechanics of the whole company.
When Goliaths Clash shows how to treat conflict as a business issue, achieve positive outcomes from divisive relationships, and identify the different sources of conflict, from assumptions, values, and wants, to stylistic clashes and organizational conditions.
The book combines real-world strategies drawn from the author's consulting experience with the results of a 10-year survey of more than 300 executive teams. Packed with examples from companies like Johnson & Johnson, L'Oreal, Motorola, Phillip Morris, and more, this constructive book will help unlock horns -- and open the door to more productive relationships throughout entire organizations."
The Praise for When Goliaths Clash
"One of the greatest challenges facing today’s organization is to ensure that its top management team is a cohesive, strategically aligned force for change. When Goliaths Clash should be read by all executives intent on turning dysfunctional conflict into honest, open debate; defining clear roles and accountabilities; and growing business relationships that produce results and success."
— Robert A. Lutz, Vice Chairman, Product Development and Chairman, General Motors North America, l Corporation
"You will come away from this book with a proven process—but not a cookie-cutter solution—for building high-performance organizations and harnessing the creative forces of hard-charging leaders at every level."
— Carol J. Hamilton, President and General Manager, L’Oréal Paris Division, a division of L’Oréal USA, Inc.
"When Goliaths Clash will help many top management teams and their organizations move from lackluster to top performance. Guttman captures the insights, processes, and techniques that have transformed clashing Goliaths into goal-directed, productive contributors."
— Chuck Nesbit, President & CEO, Sara Lee Intimate Apparel and Hosiery, and Vice President, Sara Lee Corporation
"When Goliaths Clash is a book written from the trenches. It is practical, hard-hitting, and provides lessons in leadership and conflict management that are applicable to leaders in a variety of business situations."
— Marc Robinson, President, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, Pfizer Inc.
"Too many organizations are consumed fighting internal battles rather than marketplace competitors. When Goliaths Clash shows executives how to bear down on business results, keep organizational energy directed at winning in the marketplace, and lift the fog surrounding the goal of creating high-performance teams."
— Carol Zilm, Worldwide President, Cordis Endovascular, a Johnson & Johnson company
本书
在一家位于加州的信息服务提供商，新总裁面临严峻挑战。东海岸和西海岸的运营部门之间缺乏沟通，破坏和攻击行为严重到需要联合国干预的程度。决策停滞，销售额大幅下降。
如果不加以控制，管理层的权力斗争、仇恨、三角关系和诡计可能会对整个组织造成毁灭性的影响。但是，如果能够直面冲突并加以疏导，冲突实际上可以转化为实现业务成果的动力。
这本强有力的原创书籍向高级管理人员展示了如何有效地管理冲突。该书以 Howard M. Guttman 令人印象深刻的咨询生涯和对 300 多个高管团队的 10 年调查为基础，并包含来自强生、Coach、金宝汤、摩托罗拉、辉瑞等公司幕后的数十个真实案例。
《当巨人相撞时》揭示了如何管理高管冲突以建立更具活力的组织，并结合对组织动态的洞察和丰富的实用建议，包括如何：
让您的团队在业务目标上达成战略一致，明确个人角色，并建立解决冲突的协议。
建立高绩效团队——从高层管理团队到基层团队——在其中冲突不再被个人化而是被当做业务问题来处理。
了解个人感知差异和组织条件中冲突的根源。
在最新、最容易发生功能失调冲突的领域——电子邮件——中进行有效沟通，并尽量减少因鲁莽点击“发送”按钮而造成的损害。
关于如何管理职场冲突的书籍有很多。但很少有人讨论过高管层中爆发的严重冲突——这些冲突可能会引发整个组织的分裂和竞争。《当巨人相撞时》向您展示了如何从功能失调的冲突转向竞争成功。
作者
霍华德·M·格特曼 (Howard M. Guttman) 是格特曼发展战略公司 (GDS) 的负责人，该公司是一家总部位于新泽西州阿灵顿山的管理咨询公司，成立于 1989 年，专门从事高管培训；建立横向高绩效团队；战略和组织协调；以及管理发展培训。
GDS 被《领导力卓越》杂志评选为顶级领导力发展咨询公司，霍华德还被该杂志评选为“卓越 100 位顶尖思想领袖”之一。
演讲活动
霍华德是一位广受欢迎的演讲者，演讲主题包括：
“优秀的商业团队：需要什么？”
“冲突管理是领导力的核心能力”
“将绩效融入高绩效团队”
“高管培训：来自前线的教训”
“协调：自上而下打造高绩效团队”
“通过自我辅导培养未来的领导者”
Core Takeaways
When Goliaths Clash by Howard Guttman offers practical strategies for managing conflict, fostering collaboration, and enhancing decision-making in high-stakes business environments. Here are the key points:
1. High-Performance Teams Require Conflict Management
-
Conflict is inevitable in high-stakes business settings, particularly when large organizations or "Goliaths" interact.
-
The book emphasizes that managing conflict constructively is key to creating high-performing teams.
-
Leaders should encourage open dialogue and healthy debates while avoiding personal attacks.
2. Aligning Teams and Goals
-
Guttman highlights the importance of aligning individual and team goals with the organization’s objectives.
-
Misaligned goals often result in inefficiencies and internal conflict.
-
Leaders should ensure that team members understand their roles and how their contributions fit into the bigger picture.
3. The Role of Leadership in Conflict Resolution
-
Effective leaders proactively manage conflicts by setting clear expectations and fostering a collaborative culture.
-
Guttman advocates for "horizontal leadership," where power and decision-making are distributed across the team, promoting accountability and engagement.
4. Decision-Making Models
-
Guttman provides tools and frameworks for improving decision-making, focusing on collaborative approaches that involve all stakeholders.
-
Teams should prioritize data-driven decisions and avoid being paralyzed by analysis.
5. Organizational Culture as a Competitive Advantage
-
The book stresses the need to build a strong, adaptable culture to navigate the challenges of large-scale operations and competitive markets.
-
A culture of transparency and mutual respect can transform conflict into an opportunity for innovation.
6. Strategies for Handling Large-Scale Disputes
-
The book offers case studies and strategies for resolving disputes between large organizations, such as partners, competitors, or divisions within a company.
-
Key approaches include mediation, joint problem-solving, and focusing on shared objectives.
7. Continuous Improvement
-
Guttman emphasizes that conflict resolution and team alignment are ongoing processes.
-
Organizations should regularly assess team dynamics, communication effectiveness, and strategic alignment.
Practical Tools and Frameworks
-
The book is rich with actionable advice, including conflict resolution techniques, decision-making frameworks, and team alignment exercises.
-
Leaders are encouraged to adopt these tools to create a sustainable, high-performing organizational environment.
In summary, "When Goliaths Clash" is a guide for leaders navigating complex interpersonal and organizational dynamics, offering insights to turn conflicts into opportunities for collaboration and growth.
Buy the Book
Hardcopy and digital formats available:
Table Of Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
CHAPTER ONE: ANATOMY OF CONFLICT............................... 1
The Two Faces of Conflict....................................................................................... 3
Transforming Destructive Conflict........................................................................ 5
The Roots of Conflict................................................................................................. 8
What Causes Conflict?.............................................................................................. 10
Conflict: Red-Hot or Cool?........................................................................................ 20
Conflict and the Fear Factor.....................................................................................21
Options for Coping with Conflict............................................................................ 21
Outing Conflict.............................................................................................................. 25
Testing Your Conflict-Management I.Q................................................................26
CHAPTER TWO: WHY GOLIATHS CLASH............................... 28
Directional Discord...................................................................................................... 29
It’s About Strategy, Stupid......................................................................................... 31
Resolving Strategic Conflict..................................................................................... 32
From Alignment to Action......................................................................................... 56
CHAPTER THREE: HIGH-PERFORMANCE TEAMS AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT........................................................... 58
High Performers to the Rescue...............................................................................59
The Way We Were....................................................................................................... 61
The Changing Face of Organizations....................................................................62
The Need for Speed.................................................................................................... 63
Smashing Silos............................................................................................................. 64
It Doesn’t Stop at the Top.......................................................................................... 66
Reaching High Performance: Evolution, Not Revolution................................ 69
High Performance Means Delivering..................................................................... 89
Where Are You on the Team-Development Wheel?......................................... 90
CHAPTER FOUR: THE ROAD TO HIGH PERFORMANCE... 93
Creating a High-Performance Team.....................................................................96
Holding Up the Mirror................................................................................................ 97
Looking Inward............................................................................................................ 99
Forgetting Finger-Pointing...................................................................................... 101
Depersonalizing the Data........................................................................................ 102
Reframing Business Relationships.......................................................................105
Embedding Protocols............................................................................................... 108
Assigning Responsibilities/Accountability..........................................................111
Clarifying Goals........................................................................................................... 112
Moving to Stage Four................................................................................................ 113
Becoming a High-Performance Organization...................................................113
CHAPTER FIVE:
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AS ART AND SKILL............... 129
Skills Training: The Need for Self-Reflection.....................................................130
The Primacy of Influence....................................................................................... 131
Baseline Capabilities................................................................................................ 133
Assessing Where Others Stand............................................................................133
Assessing Where You Stand................................................................................. 135
Which Skills, When?.................................................................................................. 138
The Importance of Conflict-Management Skills.............................................165
CHAPTER SIX: E-CONFLICT.................................................... 168
E-Mail as a Lethal Weapon.................................................................................... 170
Toward E-Conflict Rules of Engagement..........................................................181
Check Before You Send.......................................................................................... 191
End Note..................................................................................................................... 193
CHAPTER SEVEN: LEADERSHIP IN CONFLICT MANAGEMENT............................................................................ 196
Leaders as Role Models......................................................................................... 205
Changing the Leader’s Style.................................................................................. 207
Making Change Stick............................................................................................... 210
The New Leadership Imperative: Letting Go....................................................212
One Style Does Not Fit All...................................................................................... 213
The Challenge of Changing Your Style...............................................................222
Giving Feedback: Ground Rules for Leaders....................................................223
Feedback: A Front-Line Perspective....................................................................225
The Leader as “Dealer”............................................................................................ 228
Honest Leadership................................................................................................... 230
Litmus Test for Leaders......................................................................................... 232
End Note...................................................................................................................... 233
Index.............................................................................................................................. 235
About the Author....................................................................................................... 249
