"Based on my reading of UNICEF's Competency Framework, Competency #5 stresses the importance of self-awareness at work. In my opinion, self-awareness plays a vital role in managing conflicts. When I first started my nonprofit career, I was very headstrong and stubborn in my belief that I knew the most efficient process for coordinating mass fundraising mailers. To me, this meant eliminating handwritten notes. One of my co-workers thought it was critical to personalize the letters by having our CEO sign each one; doing so had always boosted donation numbers in the past and had offset the time spent handwriting. This disagreement led to an individual meeting between the co-worker and myself. In that meeting, she shared reports from previous fundraisers detailing a direct correlation between personalization and increased donations. I became aware of my ignorance of the subject and learned to ground my desire to innovate in collaboration. I also learned how to show humility instead of stubbornness, which I believe is key to conflict resolution."

"I believe conflicts are often the result of miscommunication; as such, conflicts can be overcome by clearly explaining your reasons for making a particular decision and actively listening to your co-workers as they explain theirs. This requires the ability to never take anything personally and be open to compromise. As my fundraising team planned a special event a few years ago, there were many conflicting ideas for its location. The team could not agree, and each member became frustrated when another shot down their idea. As the Fundraising Director, I gave each member of the team five minutes to explain the reason behind their location choice and asked the other members to listen carefully during their explanation. We then determined that the team had mutual concerns related to the distance and cost of the location. From there, we were able to compromise and find a location with a reasonable travel time to-and-from our service area for a cost within our budget."

This is another opportunity to emphasize your familiarity with UNICEF's Competency Framework, specifically the one regarding self-awareness. Show how you altered your behavior or realized your faults in the given situation. Do not be negative when describing your co-worker's or manager's behavior.