Our leadership team is highly competent, but there is a lack of vulnerability-based trust because members are constantly managing their status and trying to appear infallible. How do we fix this?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Status management behaviors are poison to a leadership team. When your executive team members are constantly trying to appear infallible, they hide mistakes, defend their silos, and refuse to ask for help, which cripples your ability to solve issues during IDS®.

To break this behavior and build vulnerability-based trust, you must implement the principles of building team safety directly into your team dynamics. This means prioritizing personal connection and lowering self-orientation.

Start by incorporating a trust exercise into your next quarterly session. Have each leader share their greatest personal or professional mistake and what they learned from it. As the owner, you must go first and set the standard for vulnerability.

Next, actively call out status management when you see it. If a leader tries to spin a missed metric or blame another department for a failed Rock, pause the meeting. Remind the team that we do not penalize mistakes here; we only penalize dishonesty and failure to own our issues.

Encourage your team to practice the art of conversation by listening to understand rather than listening to defend. When your leaders realize that vulnerability is welcomed and that their peers will support them rather than exploit their weaknesses, they will drop their protective armor and start collaborating to build a stronger business.