Alex and Andrew Geesbreght, founders of PRAX Leadership share their extensive experience and valuable insights on navigating today’s leadership challenges.
Today more than ever, leaders face a multitude of challenges, from resolving conflicts and nurturing emotional intelligence to fostering a culture of accountability and investing in employee development.
To gain a deeper understanding of these critical issues, we turned to Alex and Andrew Geesbreght, founders of PRAX Leadership.
What’s their take on a series of contemporary leadership challenges, and what can you do to save the day? Let’s delve into it.
1. Conflict resolution: finding the root cause
One of the most significant obstacles organizations face when dealing with difficult conversations and conflict resolution is identifying and addressing the root cause of the issue.
Alex Geesbreght emphasizes this point, stating, “The most productive way to resolve a conflict is for all parties to first find and agree upon the root cause of the conflict, itself. Likewise, the most effective way to prevent these conflicts from happening in the first place is to understand what causes them.”
He further elaborates on the importance of seeing conflicts as symptoms of underlying issues.
“Unfortunately, conflict is often seen and described as the issue itself.”
“These truths, which are often hidden and uncomfortable for organizations to search for, are the most common obstacles that organizations face when dealing with difficult conversations and conflict resolution.”
Alex illustrates this concept with an example of a conflict between a lazy supervisor and a hard-working subordinate. He describes how the tension and lack of effective communication manifest as symptoms, such as the employee feeling like she “can’t talk to her boss” and the supervisor feeling like the employee doesn’t “respect his authority.”
However, he points out that these are merely distractions from the real issue: the employee’s competence threatening the insecure supervisor.
“The reality is that the employee’s go-get-’em attitude and competence is a threat and mirror into the insecure supervisor. Until these hard truths are examined and corrected (the right people in the right places), symptomatic, unresolvable problems will persist.”
He emphasizes that until the actual root of an issue is discovered and resolved, conflict will continue to arise.
2. Emotional intelligence: the key to effective leadership
Emotional intelligence is a crucial factor in effective leadership and employee performance. Alex Geesbreght underscores its significance.
“Not to be glib, but emotional intelligence is kind of everything – at least everything that isn’t self-evident. At a CPA firm, someone can either add or not. Technical skills are rarely the basis of contention, miscommunication, and conflict.
