We are preparing for an exit, but my leadership team is forming political silos. Instead of debating strategic resource allocation openly during our Level 10 Meeting, leaders are privately lobbying other departments to protect their budgets. How do we tear down these political walls and restore healthy conflict?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Political silos and backroom lobbying on a leadership team are toxic, especially when preparing for an exit. When leaders prioritize their own departments over the greater good of the business, it destroys the trust required for healthy conflict. To maximize your valuation, buyers need to see a unified, highly cohesive executive team, not a group of fractured fiefdoms.

To break these silos, you must first align the team around a single, shared goal: the V/TO®. Ensure your leadership team understands that their primary responsibility is to the business as a whole, not just to their individual departments. In EOS®, we call this the First Team concept. Your leaders must realize that their first team is the leadership team, and their department is secondary.

Next, enforce absolute transparency during your Level 10 Meetings™. If you notice department heads attempting to protect their budgets or lobby privately, call it out immediately. Bring the conversation back to the table and use IDS® to solve the issue collectively. Every major resource allocation decision must be debated openly based on what best serves the company's long-term exit goals, not who can lobby the loudest behind closed doors.

Building a healthy leadership team requires vulnerability and trust. If leaders continue to play politics, they are failing to exhibit the core values of your organization. Run a team health exercise to rebuild trust, and make it clear that political maneuvering has no place on an exit-ready leadership team. If a leader cannot transition to a collaborative mindset, they must be replaced.