Writing about conflicts is a balancing act. Your MBA application essays can turn quickly into a whining competition. It can even turn preachy with character flaws highlighted in the first paragraph, and conflicts portrayed in black and white terms. No person is a pure saint or the persistent evil doer. Business School AdCom understands this, and it takes maturity to see events that led to conflict as reaction of your colleague or supervisor to limited information or circumstances that were not easily fathomable.
An event has several perspectives, and your interpretation is not the only ‘truth.’ It is your truth. Using strong words or phrases to convey your truth is essential but don’t overdo it. Offer context. You can even justify the reasons, and retrospectively evaluate the events and conflicts in different terms. Write about the conflict from a context close to the event. Now, write a different version of the conflict with little more empathy. Surprise the AdCom with two perspectives – one close to the event and the other a more empathic view.
We have seen MBA Applicants writing about conflicts in one-dimensional narrative with their virtues highlighted, and their supervisor or colleague turned into simple villains. It might show your ability to manage conflicts, but it shows poorly about your ability to evaluate individuals – a skill that is essential when you work with colleagues of equal or superior competency.
Unfortunately, you will display a poor comprehension of team dynamics if the interpretation of conflicts is mostly related to a character flaw. Teamwork in itself means your ability to work with diverse ideas, managing conflicts and understanding individuals beyond one incidence. Conflict is not a ‘bad word’ for the team. It breeds diversity of ideas.
So how can you offer a balanced narrative?
1) List the Individuals
Write down the names of team members who were involved in the conflict.
2) Write about their behavior that led to conflict
Without judging, write down the triggering behavior or decisions that led to the conflict.
3) Explore their thought process
Again, without judging write down why they behaved that way, from their perspective. You can list multiple reasons. Keep exploring.
4) Now Review the behavior
If you initially reviewed the conflict as a roadblock to your plan, Step 3 will give a more empathic explanation on why your colleague or supervisor had behaved that way. Ego is not the only factor that leads to conflict, but opposing ideas can also lead to direct conflicts or even confrontation.
Explain the conflict in two perspectives – immediate and reflective, and surprise the AdCom with your interpretation.
"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function" - F.Scott Fitzgerald
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About the Author
I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.
My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.
I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.
The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.
Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.