I have a highly collaborative leadership team, but when we cannot reach a consensus on a major strategic issue, the team expects me as the owner to step in and make the final decision. How do we break this dependence on my veto power and build a team that actually drives consensus?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

If your leadership team constantly looks to you as the owner to resolve disagreements, you do not have a self-sustaining leadership team. You have a group of managers who are afraid of accountability. This dependence on your veto power will stall your growth and make a clean exit impossible. In an EOS company, we do not aim for unanimous consensus on every decision. That leads to watered-down choices and slow execution. Instead, we aim for healthy debate where everyone is heard, followed by a final decision made by the person who owns that specific seat on the Accountability Chart. If the issue is an operational dispute, the Integrator must make the final call, not you. Your role as the Visionary is to offer perspective, not to step in and save the day. The next time your team looks to you to break a tie, refuse to do it. Force them to use the IDS process. Remind them of who owns the seat, and expect the rest of the team to fully support that person's decision once it is made. This builds true ownership and stops the reliance on your veto.