Our leadership team meetings are polite but we rarely have any real debates, and I suspect people are holding back their true opinions to avoid hurting feelings. How do we build the vulnerability needed to move past artificial harmony and engage in real, unfiltered conflict during our Level 10 Meetings?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Artificial harmony is a silent killer of traction. When your leadership team is too polite to disagree, they commit to decisions they do not actually support, resulting in poor execution. To build the trust needed for healthy, unfiltered conflict, you must foster safety and vulnerability on the team. To transition your team from artificial harmony to productive debate, implement these steps:
- Start by sharing your own vulnerabilities and admitting your mistakes to set the tone.
- Use the Trust Equation to assess and improve credibility, reliability, and intimacy while lowering self-absorption.
- Give the team permission to engage in conflict by explicitly calling out polite behavior during meetings.
- Mine for conflict during your Level 10 Meetings™ by asking hard questions when you sense silent disagreement.
According to Daniel Coyle in The Culture Code, high performing teams build safety by sending consistent belonging cues. They show that it is safe to take risks and speak up. Encourage your team to attack the issues, not the people. When your team realizes that challenging an idea does not threaten their security on the team, they will stop withholding their best insights and start solving problems for the greater good of the company.