In this instructional video, Natalie Fisher explains how to answer the common interview question “Tell me about a time you handled conflict in the workplace.” She argues that a strong answer should combine a concrete personal example with a clear, overarching philosophy. Her philosophy centers on using curiosity—asking “why?”—to understand the other person’s perspective, which builds rapport and often resolves the disagreement quickly. She illustrates this with a real workplace scenario where she questioned a colleague’s task allocation, leading the colleague to reassign responsibilities appropriately. Fisher then outlines a fallback approach: if agreement can’t be reached, propose testing both ideas to see which yields better results, emphasizing openness to the best solution regardless of its origin (“the best idea wins”). She also shares insights from hiring managers about preferred answers, noting that candidates who demonstrate openness, willingness to test ideas, and a collaborative mindset are viewed most favorably. The video concludes with a call‑to‑action for a free three‑day series that provides templates, story guides, and example lists to help viewers craft their own conflict‑handling narratives for job interviews.
Don't forget me.
In this video, I'm going to share the answer to tell me about a time you handled conflict in the workplace, but also it's a double whammy because I'm going to share with you how I actually handle conflict in the workplace and how you can't go wrong with this strategy. So stay tuned. All right, let's talk about How to answer that question. So in order to answer an interview question like that, ultimately you want to have an example of how you've handled conflict, but you also want to have like a holistic philosophy for how you handle conflict. Okay? And this is going to show them maturity, emotional intelligence, and ultimately make them feel comfortable working with you if they like your answer. So I'm going to share with you my philosophy for handling conflict and why it works so well. And then I'll— ultimately tell you how I would answer this question. Okay, so let's get started. First, I always like to use my secret weapon, which is curiosity. So say somebody says something that I then disagree with. So now we're in a conflict, right? So internally, I might want to react and say,
no, God. No, God, please, no, no,
no. I don't like that way of doing it. That's wrong. Let's do it my way, let's say. But instead I might say, okay, tell me why. And that's where the curiosity starts. So I'll give you an example. I was working on an event with somebody and she had listed out the tasks that she thought she should be doing and the tasks that I, that she thought I should be doing. And we were both in charge of this event. But she wasn't gonna be there. I was gonna actually be on site. So I had a disagreement with her about what events I should actually be handling and which ones she should be handling, right? So when she first put this list in front of me, my initial response was, this doesn't make any sense. Why would she be doing that? She's not even gonna be there. Like, I should be the one with my name on that. I should be the one there cuz I'm actually gonna be on site. So instead I asked her, I was just like, okay, Why is your name here? Wouldn't— like, to me, it would make more sense for me to have my name on these documents because I'm going to be the one there. And if they need to ask a question about it, they should call me, not you, because you're not even going to be there, right? And so I just first expressed that curiosity, right? I was like, okay, why? And so she's like, oh, you know what? That actually does make sense. She said, I will put your name on these things because you're right, I'm not going to be there. So that makes sense. So that was an example of something that was fixed easily just by asking why, right? She hadn't thought about it. It wasn't something on her radar. Maybe she had planned to be there before, but she wasn't going to be there in the end. So just asking why. So when they say, tell me about a time you handled conflict, You can say something like this. Well, I first like to get curious about where the other person is coming from. So for example, and then you can insert your example and say, I was working with this person on this thing and they wanted to do it this way, and I asked them why. Why is that your approach? I'm just curious. Okay. And from there you can, you can develop a conversation with them, right? So asking why, getting curious creates a rapport with them. It's a Okay, this person respects me enough to ask me why I'm doing it this way or why my thought process is this way, and we get into a discussion. If you did end up at like a standstill where you couldn't agree, there are some options. So you might say, if for example I did end up in a situation where I could— we couldn't agree on something, I would suggest that we test it. I would say, okay, well, let's just see. We'll use your idea and my idea and we'll see which one gives us the best results. If that's an opportunity that's available, right? So the answer that they want to hear is that is a balance between, I voice my opinion, but I'm also open to hearing other opinions because ultimately I want what's for the greater good of the company and the best result. And so I'm not tied to my way or the highway kind of thing. This is what makes them feel comfortable to say, okay, this person is safe to work with. They have given us an example of that. Green light, right? Green flag ahead, right? Because when I was doing a lot of interviewing in HR, and this is something that my VP would do when he would interview people, he said, the one thing I ask them is, what do you do when you have a different opinion than the rest of the team? And he said, the worst answer that I ever heard was that if a candidate is asked this, he's like, the candidate might answer like, Well, I would do it my way anyway and just not tell the team. He said he'd gotten answers like that. He's like, that's a wrong answer. I don't want to work with that person. Or he's like, I would just try to convince them all to do it and I would give them my arguments.
No, no.
He's like, that's a better answer. Like, put your points forward, make a better case for it. He's like, that's a better answer. He's like, but the best answer was I want to see their openness and willingness to test new and different ideas. And ultimately, I want them to be open to the best idea no matter whose idea it was. So that's something that we used to call where I worked, same team mentality. So the CEO would say, I don't care whose idea it was. It could be the receptionist's or it could be the CTO's. It's the best idea wins. It's not who had it. So the whole philosophy around how you handle conflict is really going to be meaningful and create safety in hiring you. So I hope that example was helpful. And if you want more examples like these, you can sign up for my 3-day series where not only am I going to walk you through the whole, the whole A to Z of landing a 6-figure job from the inside out, because I do a lot of mindset work, but also you, when you sign up for that, you are going to get a 10 examples guide of concrete stories just like one I shared today where you can actually go through and see where your own examples come in. Plus you get fill-in-the-blank templates to come up with your own stories, and you get a 25-question sheet where you can answer your own questions to— that are really going to provide you momentum for your own stories. So I know you've got a lot of really good stories to tell. I know you've got a lot of really good examples, and I'll help you come up with all of that. All you have to do is sign up for the free series below and you will get those freebies. And you'll be able to log in. You'll have access to the portal. It's all free. I will see you on the series or in the next YouTube video. Have a good day.
But wait, there's more.
Never mind, I'll find someone like you. I wish nothing but the best for you too. Don't forget me, I beg. I
remember you said, sometimes it hurts in love, but sometimes it lasts instead. Sometimes it lasts in love, and sometimes it hurts instead.
