Memory hook: Understand the cause; involve the people; remove the blocker.
Must remember
Begin with a shared purpose and agreed success criteria. Adapt leadership to the team’s capability, urgency and context: a new team may need clearer direction; an experienced team needs room to decide how to deliver. Servant leadership supports the team by removing impediments, enabling learning and protecting focus, rather than assigning every technical task.
Clarify roles, decision rights and working agreements. A RACI distinguishes who performs work, who is accountable, who is consulted and who is informed. Psychological safety lets people expose errors and risks early. Cultural differences, accessibility and remote time zones should influence collaboration practices, not be treated as misconduct.
When conflict appears, establish facts, hear the parties and identify the underlying interest or constraint. Collaborating can solve the underlying problem; compromising gives each side something; accommodating yields; avoiding postpones; directing imposes a decision. No style is always correct: immediate safety/compliance issues may require urgent action, while routine disagreement usually benefits from facilitated resolution.
Coach skill gaps, use pairing/mentoring and agree measurable improvement. Address persistent behavior directly and respectfully using the organization’s process. Escalate when authority, policy or unresolved impact requires it, with evidence and options. Automatically replacing a team member or escalating every disagreement prevents local problem solving.
Choose under exam pressure
| Requirement | Choice and reason |
|---|---|
| Developers disagree about an approach | Facilitate evidence-based discussion and agree evaluation criteria. |
| Team blocked by another department | Work with the dependency owner; escalate if resolution exceeds authority. |
| Safety violation | Act promptly through the applicable safety/governance process. |
Traps
- Servant leadership does not mean avoiding difficult decisions.
- The best first action depends on urgency; assessment must not delay necessary containment.
Active recall
1. Why establish working agreements?
To make expected collaboration and behavior explicit.
2. What does the A in RACI represent?
Accountability for the outcome or decision.
3. Why investigate a conflict’s cause?
The visible disagreement may reflect unclear roles, incentives or missing information.
4. When escalate?
When impact, authority limits or policy justify it after appropriate local action.
5. How support an inexperienced team member?
Agree expectations, provide coaching/resources and review progress.