> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://blog.knack4business.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How to Handle Conflict Like a Pro: A Leader's Guide - URL: https://blog.knack4business.com/how-to-handle-conflict-like-a-pro-a-leaders-guide/ - Published: 2026-10-30T18:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T17:59:59.000Z - Description: Most leaders were never taught how to handle conflict. Yvette Durazo explains how to read it, build a toolbox, and create a healthier team. - Author: Bernie Franzgrote - Tags: Leadership & Ops, Knack 4 Business, Yvette Durazo, Unitive Consulting, workplace conflict, conflict resolution, Conflict-IQ, leadership skills, Leadership development, Workplace Culture, business management, personal development, HR leadership **Host: Bernie Franzgrote** Yvette Durazo shares how leaders can turn team conflict into a tool for growth. Hear her Conflict-IQ framework on Knack 4 Business, plain and practical. **GROWTH CATEGORY:** **Leadership & Ops** --- **Brought to you by** [Gentry Learning](https://tinyurl.com/cvwfkcee?ref=blog.knack4business.com), [Profit10™](https://tinyurl.com/58she8w6?ref=blog.knack4business.com), and [East Trade Winds](https://tinyurl.com/2p7kvb29?ref=blog.knack4business.com). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c2/71/c271bbbd-7656-42a5-bca8-28e3520864c6/content/images/2026/10/GENTRY-LEARNING-trnsprnt-LOGO-3-1-1.png) #### [Gentry Learning](https://tinyurl.com/cvwfkcee?ref=blog.knack4business.com) Fred Crouch's real estate education hub, with courses, an Investor Club, and a free newsletter. [Listings](https://www.gentryres.com/listings?ref=blog.knack4business.com) · [Investor Club](https://www.gentryres.com/investors-club?ref=blog.knack4business.com) · [Free Newsletter](https://www.gentryres.com/newsletter?ref=blog.knack4business.com) [Gentry Learning](https://tinyurl.com/cvwfkcee?ref=blog.knack4business.com) --- You walk past two people on your team who barely speak. Everyone says things are fine. But work keeps slipping through the cracks. That is the quiet cost of avoided conflict. Yvette Durazo has spent more than two decades in rooms like that. She helps leaders find the message inside the tension. Yvette Durazo is the founder and principal consultant of Unitive Consulting in San José, California. She helps leaders and HR teams turn workplace conflict into a tool for better business management. In this conversation, she explains her Conflict-IQ framework and why most managers were never taught how to handle conflict. She shares the leadership skills that help leaders stay curious and take responsibility, and how an outside neutral party can spot what insiders miss. She also covers how her work runs, from mediation to team coaching, and how conflict skills build a healthier workplace culture. Her negotiation book for women adds a personal development angle. This episode is for business owners, HR leaders, and managers focused on leadership development. --- ### Watch the full conversation here: --- Many leaders avoid team conflict because nobody taught them how to handle it. Yvette Durazo, founder of Unitive Consulting and author of Conflict-IQ, has worked in mediation and dispute resolution for over twenty years. Readers learn to treat conflict as a signal, find the root cause, and work through it with their team. --- ### **Who this is for** SMB owners and leaders building systems, plus HR leaders and managers who want less tension on their teams. --- ### **Key lessons** **1\. Conflict is a message, not a failure** Most leaders treat conflict as a sign something went wrong. Yvette says it often points to something the team is not saying. Years ago, leaders told her to come in as a consultant but not to use the word "conflict," because they said there was none. Yvette says most of us set our habits for handling conflict early in life. Schools rarely teach it. So leaders carry old habits into the workplace, and the habit is usually to avoid. **2\. Build a toolbox, not a single fix** Yvette says emotional intelligence is not enough on its own. Conflict-IQ gives leaders many tools, the way a mechanic carries many tools. Not every conflict gets resolved. But most can be managed when you know which tool to use. Yvette ties this to mindset. She builds on an idea often credited to Albert Einstein: you can't fix a problem from the same mindset that created it. Her point is that leaders can practice a calmer, more curious state, the way you build a muscle. **3\. Outside eyes see what insiders miss** A CEO may not know two managers do not get along. They look fine, and the work still falls through the cracks. A neutral outsider can talk to people who would not talk to each other, and look at skills and structures, not just blame. Yvette says she does not advise and walk away. She gets her hands dirty. She talks with leaders and key staff, then picks the fix: training, one-on-one coaching, or mediation for old conflicts. She also has a view on HR. She says many HR pros landed in the role without formal training, and often see only policy and risk. She wants HR leaders to build more skills so they can work closer with the C-suite. **A note on negotiation** Yvette also wrote In the High Heels of a Smart Negotiator. It is written for women, and she says men can use it too. It teaches interest-based negotiation, where both sides look for a win-win. She says that style earns more trust at work than hard win-lose tactics. --- ### **Practical steps** - Name one tension you have been dodging. Write down what it might be telling you. - When something goes wrong, take responsibility first. Then ask the team how to fix it together. - Look at behaviors, skills, and structures before you look for someone to blame. If the tension is old, ask a neutral person to help. --- ### **About the guest** Yvette Durazo is the founder of [Unitive Consulting](https://unitiveconsulting.com/?ref=blog.knack4business.com) and the author of Conflict-IQ and In the High Heels of a Smart Negotiator. Connect: [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvette-durazo/?ref=blog.knack4business.com) · [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/unitiveconsulting) · [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdUsUQROldpN51G6x3Q5NGQ?ref=blog.knack4business.com) --- ### **Listen on audio** [Listen on Simplecast](https://tinyurl.com/2ruj9j87?ref=blog.knack4business.com) [Browse all episodes](https://tinyurl.com/y8tctv4v?ref=blog.knack4business.com) --- ### **Partners on this episode** - [Gentry Learning](https://tinyurl.com/cvwfkcee?ref=blog.knack4business.com): Fred Crouch's real estate education hub, with courses, an Investor Club, and a free newsletter. [Listings](https://www.gentryres.com/listings?ref=blog.knack4business.com) · [Investor Club](https://www.gentryres.com/investors-club?ref=blog.knack4business.com) · [Free Newsletter](https://www.gentryres.com/newsletter?ref=blog.knack4business.com) - [Profit10™](https://tinyurl.com/58she8w6?ref=blog.knack4business.com): a free ten-question Profit Snapshot that shows where your business leaks profit. - [East Trade Winds](https://tinyurl.com/2p7kvb29?ref=blog.knack4business.com): free weekly networking. Bring one challenge, bring one introduction. --- ### **FAQ** **What is Conflict-IQ?** It is Yvette Durazo's framework for building conflict skills. It goes beyond emotional intelligence and gives leaders a full set of tools. **How long does conflict work take?** Yvette says it often takes three to six months when people are willing. Her Conflict-IQ book also has a 40-hour modular training with an assessment. **Who should bring in an outside neutral person?** Yvette works best with CEOs, CFOs, COOs, and HR directors. They tend to see the cost of conflict first. ****Next steps to take** - [Join Canada Growth Network](https://tinyurl.com/3s5d3ayv?ref=blog.knack4business.com): $47 CDN, a robust CRM + community - [Web Indexer](https://tinyurl.com/yav4edf5?ref=blog.knack4business.com): quick install chatbot. Info 24/7 for visitors. Install it today - [Browse all episodes (K4B / ETW / CGN)](https://tinyurl.com/y8tctv4v?ref=blog.knack4business.com) - [Search K4B episodes by topic](https://tinyurl.com/43fdyzew?ref=blog.knack4business.com): this uses that Web Indexer! - [Want to be a guest? Register here](https://tinyurl.com/mcdm3hk6?ref=blog.knack4business.com) [Join Canada Growth Network ](https://tinyurl.com/3s5d3ayv?ref=blog.knack4business.com) ### **K4B acknowledgements** - [Carl Richards](https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-richards-3a0a223/?ref=blog.knack4business.com) - [Fred Crouch](https://tinyurl.com/3psh5bdk?ref=blog.knack4business.com) - [Jovan Strika — @Hive](https://tinyurl.com/4dmcxah8?ref=blog.knack4business.com) - [Melanie Webber](https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-webber-879806128/?ref=blog.knack4business.com)