Great article.
I have always promoted and followed the idea of a relationship oriented manager however I have found these same challenges are what normally turns people off and makes it feel like it's all too hard.
The most important point for me is about conflicts as they do happen all the time and that's ok. What I have always seen is that overcoming a conflict makes the relationship almost unbreakable so it is definitely worth facing them and learning from them.
Thanks Pete I will be looking out for more of your articles.
Keith