NJ Governor Chris Christie, who ordered the evacuation of Atlantic City, and Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford, who reportedly encouraged people to seek shelter locally, are now duking it out in the press with blame, insults, and accusations of playing politics. Whatever you call it, it is inappropriate and irresponsible behavior on both sides.

I can not think of an occasion where pointing fingers and hurling insults has been effective. Can you?

Unfortunately, this behavior is not uncommon and may be occurring in your organization as you read this.

In the case of Christie and Langford, embarrassment over Hurricane Irene preparations and past disagreements are likely fueling this confrontation. This too is typical.

In a well-aligned organization with effective decision-making and communication, issues are raised, failures acknowledged, lessons learned, credit given where due, and most important, people agree to disagree and move on.

Nonetheless, people aren’t perfect. Things that should be forgotten, forgiven, and foreseen aren’t always. Jealousies exist, tempers flair, and damaging comments occur. These situations can’t be avoided totally.

However, you can’t let baggage and festering wounds come between employees and smart critical decisions. You can’t let personal differences hinder someone’s ability to fulfill important responsibilities, such as keeping people out of harm’s way.

Those in a position of authority, in particular, must be able to:

• Recognize when a personal relationship prevents effectiveness
• Take action to heal the wounds

Those in a position to intervene in dysfunctional relationships, but who do nothing, are also culpable when the situation blows up. The potential impact may be explosive and damaging to customer relations and reputation, or slow and insidious as it drives away good employees and erodes profits. Either way, don’t sweep dysfunction under the rug. Take action:

• Ensure the individuals involved are aware of the situation, the implications, and your expectations that they resolve their differences and begin working together effectively.
• Determine whether the individuals believe they can resolve the problem by themselves or whether they need help. If they need help, ensure they get help.
• Whether the pair heals an old wound or agrees to let bygones be bygones, insist that they identify both evidence of success and evidence of continued problems. They need to establish clear methods for assessing their effectiveness and triggering remedial action. Without that, they are likely to backslide into old behaviors.
• If all else fails, you should consider letting one or both go fight their battles outside your organization.

The media may benefit from the Christie – Langford confrontation, but everyone else loses, including Christie and Langford. Identify dysfunctional relationships in your organization today and take action to eliminate the risks they impose.