Something that works for me. I care about technical issues. Too much probably. I tend to be _that guy_. So my emotional investment comes out in my tone. My t

Something that works for me. I care about technical issues. Too much probably. I tend to be _that guy_. So my emotional investment comes out in my tone. My team lead then gets invested himself. At that point, the technical issue is just a firm, what's happening really is an emotional battle to dominate the frame. It's a zero-sum game. What I do now: make the pitch of my voice go down at the end of sentences, not up. This makes me sound detached; bored, even. Not only does this take away the emotional element, I find that the team lead mirrors me. His tone starts dropping, too. At that point we aren't butting heads; we're side by side, looking at the issue. I wonder how much of our interpersonal conflict has been me speaking in a high emotional key and dragging the discourse to a heightened emotional state.