With a rebel in the team, you know things will never be quiet and peaceful. There is always something going on, many heated discussions and lots of action and energy. For some, this may feel uneasy. But rebels are in their element when they are involved in a passionate argument.

That’s because a rebel’s view on conflict differs from how others in the team experience it. To a rebel, a conflict is just two differing opinions meeting each other. They want to get to the bottom of things to understand it, and they don’t care if it gets a bit rocky. For them, not getting to the root of an issue for the sake of keeping peace in the team is not an option.

Two different perspectives

Often, the rebel has a 180-degree different take on conflict than the manager:

A rebel’s view on conflict:

To a rebel, conflict is truth in motion. It’s a “finally someone said it!” moment. They see conflict as a necessary friction that cracks open BS systems, exposes lazy thinking, and pushes for change. They don’t fear conflict; they feed off it. It’s honesty. It’s momentum.

A manager’s view on conflict:

To a manager, conflict is a threat to stability. It messes with timelines, team morale, and their ability to sleep at night. They’re trained to ensure harmony and avoid disruption, and think of conflict as something to resolve quickly, preferably quietly, before it infects productivity.

Spinning out of control

It gets problematic when there is no mutual understanding between the two. Then, the rebel thinks the manager is spineless or tone-deaf, and the manager believes the rebel is disruptive and exhausting.

This easily spins out of control. The rebel gets shut down, and the manager gets ghosted. Both sides dig in, morale tanks and communication fractures. The air thickens with unspoken resentment, and eventually, it explodes, often in a meeting where someone says “with all due respect” and definitely doesn’t mean it.

Dealing with the situation

Avoiding wry situations in the team starts with having a better understanding of one another. Discuss how each person approaches conflict and create awareness before it becomes personal.

Here are some more tips:

• It’s also important to have some conflict ground rules, eg rebels can challenge ideas, not people, and managers invite pushback without seeing it as insubordination.
• Stay away from “me vs. you” and make it an “us vs. this thing”. Create common ground and bring in the data, goal, customer, or problem as a neutral battleground.
• When things get heated, pause and let each side state what they meant, not what they said. This filters the emotion and gives clarity.

So, a conflict is not a problem. It is energy. Handled right, it’s creative fuel. Handled wrong, it will be emotional arson.