Conflict and Divided Loyalty: A Fundamental Leadership Dilemma

Abstract

Conflict is inherent and unavoidable in any organization, because the individuals who comprise its leadership face divided loyalties. They must make decisions for the organization, for themselves, and often for departments, groups, or other organizations as well. Additionally, decision making at any level may be divided and shared among two or more individuals or groups. Conflict is generated within leaders because (1) they must represent the sometimes incompatible interests of two or more systems, (2) they must often share leadership, and (3) they frequently receive incompatible commands from two or more levels of the hierarchy. Such conflicts may be managed by compartmentalizing decisions, setting priorities, homogenizing the interests of the organization and its leaders, and setting up a system of checks and balances. Analysis suggests that the best strategy for the organization is to encourage a moderate amount of pluralism in the values of the leaders, coupled with a set of checks and balances to assure that all interests are adequately represented, even though this strategy may sometimes stifle creative leaders.

Citation

Tracy, L. (1993), "Conflict and Divided Loyalty: A Fundamental Leadership Dilemma", American Journal of Business, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 21-28. https://doi.org/10.1108/19355181199300013