My business partner avoids conflict with me - here's what to do

dollhouse: floral shop

Fun fact: Tulips are unusual among cut flowers because they can continue to elongate and even bend toward light after being placed in a vase. This is due to ongoing cell expansion and phototropism.

The issue: 

Your business partner, Aveline, tends to avoid conflict with you. In other words, you feel like difficult issues are brushed under the rug, rather than openly discussed.

Let's say you and Aveline own a floral shop together.

An example: 

During your last team meeting, you proposed the idea of rejecting wedding order add-ons. They're costly and slow down the production process, especially during busy event seasons.

Aveline agrees. But you find out later that she still accepts a few client add-ons when you're not involved in the conversation.

Two hidden costs:

1. Your business starts to run on unspoken expectations, rather than hard rules. You now have to make extra effort to dig up the truth.
2. You become the “bad guy” by default because you initiate the tough conversations.

The reasons:

Here are the reasons why Aveline is avoiding conflict with you (and/or):

• She doesn't feel comfortable or safe to bring up difficult topics with you.
• She feels that bringing up topics with you won't end in the results that she hopes for, or that it'll just cause unnecessary friction.
• She wants to quietly assert her sense of independence or control behind your back.
• She doesn't believe she is avoiding conflict, or she doesn't see it as a big deal. 

Your quick fix (honoring autonomy): 

Your goal is to make sure that all issues can be genuinely discussed and resolved.

Both parties need to feel that confronting issues head-on is the best way to go, for the business and for the relationship itself. 

• Do you both truly feel safe to discuss conflict or disagreements and possibly be vulnerable with each other?
• Is the source of conflict something that you both are willing to negotiate on?

If YES, you can make compromises.

If NO, you have a fundamental incompatibility - you each handle conflict differently.

Mending your partnership:

Book a consultation with Valerie.

Vetting for the future:

If you are searching for a business partner in the future, first figure out how they approach conflict.

This ensures that you’ll both be proactive in addressing conflict early on.

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