We occasionally invite guest employees or outside consultants into our leadership Level 10 Meeting to help us solve a technical issue, but their presence completely disrupts the natural chemistry, speed, and open debate of our team. How do we leverage outside expertise without ruining our weekly pulse?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The Level 10 Meeting™ of your leadership team is a sacred space. It relies on a high level of trust, vulnerability, and open debate that has been built over months of working together. Bringing an outsider or a direct report into the entire ninety-minute meeting will inevitably alter the dynamics, making your team more guarded and slowing down your progress.

However, you often need specific, technical expertise to solve complex issues. The solution is to invite guests only for the specific IDS® item they are needed for, rather than allowing them to sit through the entire meeting.

When you prioritize your Issues List, schedule the guest to join at a specific time. Alternatively, put their specific issue at the very top of your IDS list, invite them into the room or virtual call, present the issue, conduct the IDS process, and agree on the solution.

The moment the issue is solved and the resulting to-dos are assigned, thank the guest and ask them to leave. This allows you to leverage their expertise without exposing them to the confidential discussions, scorecard reviews, or other internal leadership challenges that are not relevant to their role. This protects the sanctity of your leadership pulse while keeping your problem-solving highly efficient.