"I prefer any disagreement be conducted in an emotionally intelligent, mutually respectful, conversational manner. When disagreement is infused with ego, that takes more time. Recently, I was working with someone who was having difficulties in their personal life, and they were suddenly prone to emotional outbursts, taking things personally and defaulting to defensive posturing. Just the other day, we had some debate over the semantics of a job we were working on together. But this debate was superfluous. They understood what I was saying. Then when we finished the job, I complimented them on a job well done. They then defensively accused me of being sarcastic. When I convinced them otherwise, they asked me not to patronize them, saying it doesn't help. I smiled and nodded, and explained encouragement is part of my makeup, and that I hoped they could learn to accept that about me. They sadly smiled and apologized, and thanked me for putting up with them."

One of Zalando's values is empowerment, where they say: "To make the best decisions, we encourage constructive and inclusive debate." And, according to Zolando's blog, "A crucial conversation is a discussion between two or more people where the stakes are high, where opinions differ and emotions run strong. The outcome is likely to impact our lives and there is a significant risk of negative consequences." They go on to explain that "emotions keep us from expressing effectively" and "diminish capability of rational thought." In this blog article on "The Role of Emotional Intelligence", they offer several tips and tricks on how to manage crucial conversations. Aligning yourself with their guiding principles will help guide your answer in a manner that aligns with their culture.