Don’t be afraid of conflict; instead, welcome it.

People agreeing with me is something I enjoy, and I’m the first to admit that. It makes me happy when someone says they see things the same way I do or laughs at my jokes. However, if we only interact with people with whom we agree (or who share our values), we will not innovate, produce good work, learn and grow, and we may not even be happy at work in the long run because people are much more engaged when they feel they can openly disagree at work.

We have a tendency to interpret disagreeing with someone as being rude. But there are times when…