Cortlyn Buck
Conflict Management: Cinderella

Fairy tale stories recounted and narrated to us as children, act as a medium to convey underlying messages within each story on ways to handle conflict and manage it correspondingly. “Conflict is a normal and natural occurrence of interacting with one another. The cost of resolving conflict is negligible relative to the cost of leaving conflicts unresolved”(Belak). In life, conflict must be utilized for the greater good of resolving problems. Walt Disney has shown how to resolve arising conflict through several movies that have been produced i.e. the fairy tale of Cinderella. The main character Cinderella herself, struggles in facing many conflicts with her evil step mom and evil stepsisters. Cinderella is portrayed as a virtuous character; moreover this angered her stepmother due to herself and her two daughters being immoral in comparison. Though Cinderella was treated poorly, she kept to the moral high road and did not let the evil bring her down. This story correlates to adversities in the work force such as, when one is presented with a bad manager who is unjust without reason, and presenting favoritism in the work place. When one is in this situation, they must have the mindset of Cinderella in order to manage the conflict. Even though your boss may be “evil” one must choose to remain kind and thoughtful. Cinderella teaches us that we are able to act appropriately, even though mal behavior is surrounding us. Cinderella also establishes the importance of perseverance through unpleasant tasks with a compliant work ethic, making the impossible seem possible. In doing so, you instill optimism in yourself as an employee, and with that, things may take a turn for the better.

However, with these points being made it is a leader’s duty to be mutual and not displaying favoritism. The leader must recognize a problem when it has arisen and devise a plan to resolve it. “Difficult behavior can inhibit performance in others and will only deteriorate if left alone, contaminating more people and incurring hidden costs for the organization”(Belak). Additionally, the leader should not abuse the power for one’s own agenda, but utilize it for the greater good of the business or organization.

In conclusion, both parties play an integral role in the overall success of the group. Each individual must recognize their part they must play and excel it in.

                                                                Work Cited:

Belak, Tony. "How To Handle Difficult Behavior In The Workplace." Medite Everything Mediation. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.