The Shadow Side of Leadership: Conflict

The March 12th session of the 2026 Sauk County Institute of Leadership (SCIL) was spent in Baraboo WI focusing on leadership and conflict. 

The SCIL participants convened at the Sauk County Law Enforcement Center (LEC) with Sheriff Chip Meister extending a welcome before passing the torch to jail administrator, Captain Nicole Schlough for a jail tour. Capt. Schlough spoke about her leadership journey which includes supervising staff and inmates at the Sauk County LEC. She shared how law enforcement is a family and how they need to function as a team with integrity and respect - for each other and the inmates - to achieve their goal in not only enforcing the law but also remaining safe while doing so.

The remainder of the day was spent at the Sauk County Highway Department. There the SCILsters debriefed on their homework assignment which was to attend a local government meeting and see how citizens can play a role in their community. There was discussion that many times people only attend if there is a controversial issue or opposition to what is being voted on at these local government meetings. There was conversation amongst the SCILsters in understanding the complexities of conflict in both leadership and community input and how communication is key when discussing controversial viewpoints, especially when emotions are involved.

Baraboo Mayor Rob Nelson also visited with the SCILsters. A man of many hats, Mayor Rob has had a broad range of life experiences that contribute to his ability to work with people in a respectful way. He believes in transparency and has a blog at baraboomayor.com to keep people informed and to be able to learn what's been happening and what's coming up in city government. He feels it is important to maintain respect even when there are differing views. He said by listening to others’ perspectives you can be respectful of each other’s viewpoint and possibly understand where they are coming from.

We ended the day with Jeff Hoffman, retired area education director from UW-Madison Extension, who led us through an interactive session around conflict and negotiation. He explained styles of conflict and the SCILsters practiced resolving conflict with a group exercise. The SCILsters discussed the UW Baraboo campus re-development as their topic. There were three different groups, and each had to write down their position and “the why, the wants, and the needs” but also were required to think of “the why, the wants and the needs” for the other two groups as well. It became apparent that even though each group might have a different “why, want or need,” that there were some commonalities among each group. 

Hoffman reiterated that conflict is necessary, and feelings are not facts, but when discussing a controversial topic they can become part of the reason for the conflict. He said when discussing a topic there should be respectful opposition. Even though the word “conflict” has a negative undertone, we learned that some of our best ideas come from conflict. While participating in this group exercise a quote from Cheryl Richardson was noted that said, “If you avoid conflict to keep the peace, you start a war inside yourself.” It seemed very fitting for this day of conflict training.

SCIL is teaching participants that leadership is a journey, conflict is inevitable, and the 2026 SCILsters appreciate the community support as we grow and learn about ourselves and others. If you, or a staff member, are interested in becoming a more creative leader and immersing yourself in community issues please consider filling out an application for the 2026-2027 SCIL program. Go to the saukcountyinstituteofleadership.org website and apply today.

Written by Melody Byl, Quinn Hause, and John Peruzzi