Turn Tension Into Trust: How Healthy Conflict Builds Stronger Teams
- Cristina Stensvaag
- Sep 25, 2025
- 2 min read
Productive teams don’t avoid conflict. They use it to find truth.
September 25, 2025
Originally published in One More Rep, our weekly leadership newsletter. 👉 Subscribe here
This month, we’re focusing on Trust & Teams, because trust is the foundation for giving feedback, building connection, and achieving results. When trust grows, everything else gets stronger.
Read
“Conflict without trust is politics. Conflict with trust is the pursuit of truth.”
– Patrick Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Last week, we looked at vulnerability as the foundation of trust. This week we’re moving one step up Lencioni’s pyramid: conflict.
In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Lencioni explains that when teams lack trust, they also avoid healthy conflict. Instead of debating ideas, they fall into silence, side conversations, or politics. But when trust is present, conflict becomes a search for truth. Teams push on each other’s ideas, challenge assumptions, and strengthen decisions.
A quick trick to differentiate "healthy" from "unhealthy" conflict is that it should be directed toward ideas not people.
Rep
At your next meeting, ask your team: “What’s one concern we haven’t voiced yet?”
If no one speaks up at first, wait a few beats. You can model safety by adding: “I’ll go first. One concern I see is…”
After someone shares, thank them and capture their input. The point isn’t to solve everything in the moment, it’s to normalize surfacing concerns so your team learns that healthy conflict is part of the process. But, make sure to follow up on concerns soon after.
Reflect
When was the last time my team openly expressed concerns...and did I welcome it?
If the answer is “not recently,” ask yourself:
What signals might I be giving that discourage debate?
Do I interrupt, dismiss, or rush past objections?
How can I show that conflict strengthens us?
Healthy conflict starts with the leader. If you don’t model it, your team won’t risk it.
