Conflict two reports

That is a hard place to lead from. You can see the cost, you can see what each person is contributing to it, and the standard advice — talk to them separately, mediate, document it — often does not move the thing underneath.

Here is why. 

The thing underneath is usually not a disagreement about facts. It is two people whose ways of being motivated, and ways of handling pressure, are colliding — and neither of them can see the collision from inside it.

What changes the situation is letting both people see the dynamic from the outside. It does not always resolve. But it can almost always change — and change is usually what you actually need. 

 Replacing one person can run from roughly a third of their salary to well over double it for senior roles — a conflict that quietly pushes one good person out has already cost more than the work to   address it.

Source: SHRM and Work Institute estimates,   2025–26