I do this by actively listening and allowing all parties to have a voice. Encouraging engagement from diverse perspectives to encourage meaningful conversation and insight.

I think it's really important to begin with psychological safety and let the team members in conflict know that both bring valuable perspective and insight and you respect their approach. Then, get the whole team together and re-state or clarify the purpose, goal, or objective overall. Explore how each perspective impacts growth and progress toward the goal and invite other perspectives as well. Finally, resist the urge to be democratic and take a vote, or to pick one over the other. Focus on consensus and finding a 3rd alternative that all can agree on.

When there are conflicting interests is means people are not aligned on the same vision. I always give space for everyone to express their thoughts and facilitate the conversation from problem focus to solution focus. If needed, I share my screen and while we brainstorming solutions, everyone sees what's been discussed. The key point is that everyone to feel heard and understood and to be ok to come back next time to have conflicting interests. This is how most of the best ideas come to life.

When coaching a team with conflicting interests, it’s important to uncover the root cause. Start by asking each person: “What are your goals?” Then, as a team, explore: Are these goals clear? Are they aligned? I worked with a cross-functional team that felt stuck — everyone was working hard, but toward different priorities (speed vs. design vs. polish). Once we surfaced the disconnect and clarified shared objectives, tension eased and collaboration improved. In this case, the conflict stemmed from a lack of clarity. Coaching helped the team reconnect with a shared sense of purpose.

Hot take: If you're not actively managing egos, you're letting them run the team. Power struggles usually aren’t about strategy—they’re about insecurity. The best leaders don’t just mediate—they redirect energy toward shared goals and make it crystal clear: ego takes a backseat to outcomes.