Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
By Dani Johnson
President, Call To Freedom International
http://www.DaniJohnson.com
Disarming Dissension 2
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Confrontation Can Be Good. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Unresolved Conflict Poisons Your Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Major Areas of Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
I. White Lies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
II. Gossip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Disarming Dissension 3
Introduction
Every person you encounter is unique. Each of us has a different story,
different feelings, different gifts and dreams. From your family to your
church, client base or community, each individual you encounter is
different! But each of those people still plays a significant role in your
success or your lack thereof.
When a group of people all works toward a common goal, be it a
wealthy life, a productive work environment or a fun community
every person has is invested in the success of that goal.
Lets face it, if you experience conflict in your workplace, home or any
other environment, those conflicts WILL act as a distraction. This type
of conflict acts as a serious disturbance, pulling your focus and putting
major roadblocks on your road to success! One of the most important
Laws of Success is the Law of Focus. It states that what you focus on, you
will get good at. Do you really intend to get good at being distracted?!
Think about it. How does it feel when tiny, nit-picky issues that take
you back to junior high school pop up? It starts with a bit of gossip here
or a minor disagreement there. At first its just an annoyance, right? But
over time those little things become huge, community-dividing issues,
causing unneeded stress in YOUR life.
Knowing how to meet these daily issues head-on and nip them in
the bud, IS a skill set. Seriously, this is a REAL skill you can learn,
practice and apply in your life to make a huge difference every day!
And eventually, you will know how to respond to conflict quickly and
with confidence.
Disarming Dissension 4
Disarming Dissension 5
Disarming Dissension 6
Disarming Dissension 7
Disarming Dissension 8
I want you to think about how you feel when you know someone has
told you a little lie. Im not talking about the big things Im talking
about the little lies that dont really even have a point. Just those little
inconsistencies and exaggerations. Dont you start to take their stories
or promises with a grain of salt? Sometimes, you even dig deeper to try
to see if something they said is actually the truth.
Let me give you a quick example on how a small lie can make a big
difference. Your office manager asks you to run to the store and pick up
some supplies. He asks specifically for the cheapest paper in the store.
You run out, but you are in a rush so you just grab whatever and call
it good. When you return your office manager isnt stupid, he can see
right away you grabbed a name brand, so he asks, This is the cheapest?
and you say, Yep.
Because youre thinking, Whats the big deal? So I paid an extra dollar.
The issue isnt the paper, or even the money. At that moment, the big
deal is the lie you told about something so stupid and so unnecessary!
This type of action and white lie causes your manager to think less
of your word, and less of your character. And when it comes time to
pass out promotions that little lie (or more likely, you have used many
little lies at this point) will hold you back.
If you arent faithful with the little things, if you arent being truthful
about the little things you will never be trusted with the big things!
Maybe youre in a home business or this situation doesnt really apply
to you. But the effect these white lies have on your relationships is even
worse. If you sow distrust, excuses, and little lies in your relationship
with your spouse, family or even close friends, those relationships are
probably strained. And, this is probably causing you unneeded stress
and conflict. Lies deteriorate your relationships!
Disarming Dissension 9
Big, small, white, black, exaggerations, excuses, well-planned, spur-ofthe-moment steer clear from any type of lie! You may think Whats
the big deal? But a lot of these totally unnecessary lies create conflict
and stress where you do not need it!
II. Gossip
Most people think (or say) that gossip happens only in high schoolOr
they say it is only limited to women. But lets be honest, that couldnt
be further from reality.
And how does it feel when you hear it? Just awful, right? Youre
ticked off, hurt, offended, enraged maybe. Gossip KILLS relationships,
teamwork, marriages and families. The bad news is, you cant escape
it. People will always talk, especially if you gain any amount of success.
Gossip plays out in two ways: 1) you hear gossip about somebody else
or 2) you hear it about yourself. They go hand-in-hand because when
people hear gossip about a friend, they then put themselves in the
second scenario by turning around and telling whomever it was about.
You think youre doing the right thing by informing someone, but
youre not. Hey I heard some gossip about you and I thought you should
know so-and-so is saying If this is you, STOP. By passing on gossip,
youre becoming a part of it. And often what you pass on is not the
actual meaning, but how you interpreted the information.
Think of the Telephone Game. One person starts with a phrase and
whispers it to another and it keeps going until the last person tries to
repeat the original phrase. And more often than not, the last person
Disarming Dissension 10
ends up saying some silly morphed version of what the first person
said. This may be good for some laughs at a party, but in your life, this
is no laughing matter.
The only quick, easy way to deal with gossip is to confront it. I know,
you just started crying inside. But confrontation doesnt have to be a
scary thing! In the work environment, gossip often cannot be ignored. Or
possibly you truly care about the relationship(s) of the people involved.
Whichever setting, I can walk you through how to handle it.
Disarming Dissension 11
they walk into a room looking for rejection! They will actually
seek proof everyone is against them and everyone is somehow
out to get them. Heres a great example
Imagine you are in a conversation with a couple of people,
discussing a totally non-threatening, casual topic. A person who
carries rejection might perceive this topic as verbally threatening
or feel like they are being ganged-up on. Even though the
conversation isnt about them!
This same person is the type who will walk into a room and if
someone doesnt immediately smile at them or say Hi, they
think, Oh, she doesnt like me, He is against me, or I mustve
done something wrong. Theyve actually twisted reality to find
the proof.
2. Preemptive Strike:
This rejection carrier tries to reject people first, basically beating
them to the anticipated punch. This type of person can cause huge
division among friendships and businesses! Basically, they will
try to reject others first. It is most often done through gossip.
What happens is they will take a conversation or situation like
I mentioned above, and blow it out of proportion or dramatize
it later so that they are the victim all so people sympathize
or side with them. As if being the victim and having a little
group of sympathizers (a pity party) will somehow soothe their
past rejection.
Do you see how easily this could hurt or destroy relationships and
cause major problems in your business? How far do you think you will
get carrying that rejection? It isnt making you money. It will not get
Disarming Dissension 12
you a promotion. It will not help you attract clients. It will not solve any
problems. Rejection is a sign of low self-esteem and insecurity it has
no good purpose in your life.
Listen, its time to focus on what is good, noble and pure. You have
already been accepted. You do not have to perform to be accepted.
Instead, focus on who YOU will choose to accept. Focus on who, what
or where you will invest your time. You need to choose to love, accept
and encourage. YOU CHOOSE to stand by people, even when they are
at their worst. This is not to say you should let people repeatedly beat
you down, but there are so many small things I guarantee you allow to
destroy your relationships.
We come from a society where we do not teach our kids how to manage
emotional pain. And then our kids grow up with these issues and pass
them on to their kids. Think about the people in your life. Have you
ever seen one or more of them display these characteristics? DUH! In
fact, the majority of the people I know deal with rejection.
What is the solution? HEALING! This isnt the type of problem you
just try to avoid. It stays with you. It comes from your past and it will
have a giant impact on your future and your success. The only way to
dissolve the division, the gossip and the past hurt, is to get to the root
of the problem and find true inner healing.
Disarming Dissension 13
It could even be a woman you work with who is just hormonal. Shes
edgy and ticked off at the world, and theres nothing anybody can do
to make it better. And I have to tell you, I know men who seem to have
the same thing going on, too!
You might look at them and say, Whats wrong? and they just fly off
the handle.
Teenagers have this same thing. They are learning to manage their
emotions, and they often have a level10 response to a level2 offense.
How do you deal with these reactions? Unfortunately, most people take
offense at these types of reactions, even though the other person just
had a bad day or theyre emotional or just need to blow off some steam.
Youve got to get better at YOUR response to their in-the-moment level
of frustration. The reality is, you are in control of how you respond or
overreact to other peoples emotional state. Realizing that and reacting
properly within a situation is something that must change.
We live in a very hostile world today, and part of the reason is we
provoke each other into that kind of behavior. We can make the world
a better place if we choose not to give into that frustration, hostility and
stress at home, at work, in our communities, in our churches, at the
airport, next time youre dealing with a rude customer.
Lets face it thoughsome people are just flat out mean, right? You
might legitimately have to deal with someone who is negative, rude
and occasionally downright mean on a daily basis. They could be a
coworker or even a family member!
Disarming Dissension 14
YOU cannot change people. Nobody has the power to make mean
people be nice. Again, because you cannot control people!
However, you CAN control one thing. YOU can control your own
thoughts and actions. You have one quick, easy, way to deal with mean
people in your day-to-day life.
Just dont accept it! You and I both know when people act rude or mean,
it is very rarely about you personally. And yet we still take offense at
their actions. There are a million excuses why people act the way they
do, but whatever they may be, the reason is usually NOT you.
Next time a car pulls out in front of you, or a person says something
negative or rude toward you, just say these words, I dont receive
that. CHOOSE not to take offense. Because more often than not, that
person isnt trying to attack you, offend you or tick you off. And even
if they are, it doesnt mean you have to accept the offense or even deal
with it. That is THEIR stuff, not YOUR stuff.
What has taking offense ever done for you? Caused you extra stress?
Caused you to make similar comments to other people? Put you on
edge? It hurts your life more than you think. Taking offense from
mean people doesnt just ruin your day. In the long run, it affects your
relationships and makes you less productive.
Disarming Dissension 15
Disarming Dissension 16
1. Jealousy
It is impossible to have unity with jealousy. It is absolutely
impossible to have unity in an organization if jealousy is
present. This includes jealousy of peoples gifts, recognition,
position, money, spouse or happiness. If jealousy is present,
unity cannot exist because jealousy causes division.
2. Judgment
It is impossible to have unity when judgment is present.
Judgment belittles someone elses gifts, position or success.
Failing to accept certain people, caused by judgment, results in
division and kills unity. When you wont listen to anyone, when
youre critical and when you have to be the chief authority on
everything, you are walking in absolute judgment.
3. Pride
Its impossible to have unity in the face of pride. Prideful people
believe everything is designed to serve them. They must have
the credit for everything, even for the things other people do.
They have to do everything themselves. Prideful people have
convinced themselves that its their job to change other people.
But, bottom line, the only person any of us can change is
our self.
Together or separately, all 3 of these things KILL unity. They destroy
harmony. They cause conflict, arguments, bitterness and resentment
in relationships.
Now that we have identified what destroys unity, how do we CREATE
unity? Just as there are unity killers, there are also unity builders:
Disarming Dissension 17
1. Encouragement
Encouragement is so important to unity. Its what pushes
people to be the best they can be. We must demonstrate our
belief in them, even when they dont believe in themselves. We
must encourage them to go beyond what they think is possible,
beyond what they think they can do, beyond anything they
have ever done. Encouragement creates unity.
2. Acceptance
Acceptance is mercy. It means being merciful to one another
and being there for one another in times of trials and mistakes.
Acceptance means covering peoples backs instead of reminding
them of their mistakes and kicking them while theyre down.
It also means embracing other peoples gifts without trying to
mold them into being just like your gifts. Its about creating a
safe place for each person to be themself.
3. Humility
Humility means thinking of others above yourself. Hear me on
this it does not mean putting yourself down or squashing yourself
to make the other person feel better. NO! It means honoring others
for who they are and pulling the best out in them. It means
taking the focus off of yourself, and focusing on other people
and the entire team. True humility gives credit where credit
is due, instead of needing to be recognized and taking credit
for everything.
It all comes down to this: Everyone you encounter is unique. We all
have different stories, different feelings, gifts and dreams. Each person
in your family, in your office, in your church, in your client base, in
your community is different. And each person is significant.
Disarming Dissension 18
Disarming Dissension 19
Disarming Dissension 20
Disarming Dissension 21
Disarming Dissension 22
Welcome To A Peaceful
New World!
You have now taken that critical first step in equipping yourself with the
tools needed to move from a stressful, conflict-ridden environment to
one that is ripe for planting, growing and reaping unbelievable success!
I have used these techniques for years, in all types of situations and now
thrive in amazing harmony and prosperity in both my personal and
professional life and urge you to make the commitment to disarming
dissension in your life.
Please let me know how Disarming Dissension has impacted your
life! We love hearing stories about your success and sharing them
as an inspiration to others. Please visit our website at http://www.
danijohnson.com/testimonials/submit-your-story/ and share your
testimonial with us. These real-world examples can spur others to
find a life with less strife and more harmony, too.
May God bless and prosper you, your family and your business,
Dani Johnson
P.S. We get so excited when you share your stories with us, we want
to world to know! So, by submitting your testimonial, you give www.
DaniJohnson.com permission to use all or part of it on our website and
in promotional materials.
Disarming Dissension 23