We have department heads who actively engage when we discuss issues in their own seat but check out or stay completely silent when other departments are being discussed in IDS, treating the rest of the Level 10 Meeting as if it is none of their business. How do we break this departmental silo mentality during our weekly meeting?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When department heads only care about their own vertical, you do not have a leadership team. You have a collection of independent contractors fighting for resources. Your weekly Level 10 Meeting is where you run the entire business as a unified team, not a place to defend individual silos.

To break this habit, the facilitator must pull these silent leaders into the discussion. When solving an issue in marketing, do not let the operations head sit silently. Ask them directly, How does this marketing bottleneck impact your team?

Remind the team of the basic expectation of leadership. Every member of the leadership team is responsible for the health of the entire organization, not just their department. If they cannot or will not contribute to solving problems outside their seat, they are not demonstrating the capacity to sit on the leadership team.

You can also assign them as the owner of a To-Do that addresses a cross-functional issue. This forces them to collaborate with other departments to execute the solution.

Ultimately, this is an alignment issue. Revisit your V/TO and ensure every leader understands the collective goals. When leaders realize their personal success is tied to the overall scorecard, their silence will turn into active participation.