One of the most difficult and uncomfortable things to experience is to work for a small company that is in the midst of a war. The typical scenario goes something like this; two partners in a company are disagreeing about a major decision regarding the company’s future and neither one is willing to give an inch on their position.

This disagreement now escalates to a war of egos. Because the partners have an equal share in the company no one is in a position to make a final decision, no decision is made and the situation sits in limbo while they try to wear each other down. Although polite to each other to keep up appearances, the atmosphere is strained and this situation goes on indefinitely. 

It is bad enough for the company that its future is essentially ‘on hold,’ but now the poor employees are caught in a war zone trying to make it through each day without being caught in the crossfire. Every day they must walk in and wonder if they will be asked to take sides and declare if they are a friend or foe to one of the owners. It is an unfair position to put one’s employees in and a terrible state for your business.

The hazards of a 50/50 equity split have long been documented and the dysfunction it can cause. The most important thing that each party in this scenario should try to remember is ‘What is best for the company? What is best for the employees? What is best for your customers?” Those are the issues that need to be focused on. Both partners need to drop the “not invented here” mentality. 

Put the egos aside, lay down the verbal weapons and try to intelligently work towards a resolution. There are going to be times when a resolution is not possible and someone will have to walk away unhappy that they did not ‘win’ – but the point is not to win in an argument and lose in your business. The point is to win in your business as much and as often as possible. If you spend all your time fighting, nobody wins. Not you, your partner, your employees and least of all your customers.

Your employees deserve a positive work environment and as the owners you owe it to  them to work things out and end the war as quickly and judiciously as possible. Once the truce has been signed, then decide upon a strategy moving forward to deal with disagreements in the future as they arise.

Reader Survey: Have you ever worked in the middle of a war-zone between two partners that were fighting? If so, how did it negativelyaffect the company?

 If you have a question for the Maniacal Marketer, please send it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Christine Regan is the president of Redlake, Inc, www.redlake.tv, a marketing and sales agency in New York.

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