What’s new in academic international medicine? Focus on conflict resolution strategies as a critical skill for modern academic leaders

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Sustainable and successful leadership in the modern academic world can only be achieved by the proficient application of a broad variety of “soft skills” – loosely defined as “personal attributes that enable one to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people.”[1-3] Among the most important “soft skills” is the leader’s ability to effectively resolve workplace/team conflicts.[4] One can approach leadership as an advanced practice of problem-solving, applied within the organizational/team setting.[5,6] Following this line of logic, conflicts can be viewed as interpersonal problems of varied complexity, ranging from trivial differences of opinion to highly entrenched, nuanced, positional arguments.[7,8] Consequently, leadership and conflict resolution can be reasonably considered inextricably linked and interdependent concepts, especially in our ever more complex academic organizations.[9-11] Given that workplace conflicts are known to preoccupy those involved, and reduce overall team harmony and productivity, there is increasing recognition of the immense importance of effective conflict-resolution skills among organizational leaders.[12,13] Among more agile/progressive institutions, conflict resolution is taught broadly, with corresponding general employee education being required either on hiring, with specific periodicity, during active conflict resolution, or a combination of the above “all employee” exposures.[14-17] Similar to other types of high-pressure environments where life-work balance struggles actively intersect with personal ambitions, leadership opportunities, promotion and tenure, and many other highly complex variables, academic medicine is characterized by the propensity toward workplace tensions.[12,13] Moreover, in addition to the negative effects on productivity-specific and interpersonal aspects of poor conflict resolution and/or coping skills in nonhealth-care settings, the same issues present among health-care personnel can also affect critical domains of medical care, including quality and patient safety.[18,19] As one explores the compelling argument “for” our collective embrace of effective conflict resolution at all levels of academic medicine, one also wonders about any potential barriers to effective organizational implementations in this important area.[20-22] In this particular context, education emerges again as a very important factor – and more specifically, the individual exposure to concepts related to conflict resolution and interpersonal harmony, such as emotional intelligence[22] and coping intelligence.[19,23] In addition, the importance of healthy work-life balance and the general emphasis on harmonious work-life integration cannot be overstated.[24-26] Another, previously under-recognized area of opportunity, is the increasingly important domain of diversity, equity, and inclusion.[27-31] Within this context, many conflicts can be prevented by embracing conceptual inclusivity and diversity of opinions, thus encouraging all stakeholders to actively participate, and also by fostering the atmosphere of mutual understanding and synergistic collaboration.[32,33] Finally, any organization or team, large or small, will be defined by the “sum of its members” and every participant’s unique and valuable input and contributions must be respected, recognized, and appreciated.[34,35] Consequently, all participants, no matter their rank within the official organizational chart, must be acutely aware of their roles, how they interact with others, the value that each individual voice brings to an organization, and the importance of others’ contributions in the context of the overarching institutional mission and vision.[36-38] Organizations stand to gain significantly by becoming more adept at conflict resolution. Key benefits include, but are not limited to, positive effects on employee engagement, greater employee satisfaction, and overall competitive advantage within corresponding market niches.[39-41] In conclusion, modern academic medical leadership has evolved into a highly specialized area that requires – among other essential skills – the mastery of conflict resolution as a key competency.[42-44] Given this important development, organizations are increasingly compelled to embrace effective conflict resolution strategies (including broader employee education in this area and corresponding leadership development strategies). Potential benefits for institutions that successfully navigate the challenging landscape of conflict resolution are numerous, including enhanced productivity, lower costs related to human resources (employee recruitment, satisfaction/experience, and retention), and various other competitive advantages over organizations that fail to embrace this paradigm. Ethical conduct of research This article does not contain any data or studies involving human participants. The author declares that this Editorial does not require Institutional Review Board/Ethics Board approval.