When is conflict worth confronting?

	"The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers."
	--M. Scott Peck, psychiatrist and author, The Road Less Traveled

Have you ever had a situation that went from bad to worse and as you thought back on it you said to yourself, "I knew I should have said something?"

In some situations silence speaks loudly. In other situations, future problems are avoided when a problem is dealt with at the beginning. In my experience, avoiding conflict is rarely useful to anyone or any situation.

For many years I served in a leadership role in one of the oldest women's networking association in the USA. For two terms I was Vice President of Membership, increasing the membership about 25 percent in my first term and then maintaining steady...