One of the greatest attitudes to display when confrontation occurs is that of responsibility. Genuinely looking in the mirror and realizing that your actions, or maybe even your inaction, may have caused the issue, is a sign of maturity.

Calling people out and quickly casting blame only causes others to back away from opening up. When you assume responsibility from the beginning, you are keeping people from becoming defensive. Some great statements to lead off with when you’re dealing with confrontation is:

• Is there something I have done that has caused this to occur?

• It’s very possible I have miscommunicated and caused some confusion about this.

• I believe I might be missing the full context of what happened, could you clarify what took place so I can understand?

• What do you feel I need to know to fully understand this situation?

Notice how all of these statements assume responsibility with the word “I.” It takes more strength to walk in humility than it does to stand in pride. The moment you start blaming people is the moment they will turn against you. Dr. Stephen Covey taught that to truly connect with people, you have to first seek to understand than to be understood. 

Be the kind of person that takes the high road and works on rebuilding relationships rather than tearing them down.