The founder rates our weekly Level 10 Meeting™ a six or seven because they feel the team is not taking enough ownership, while the rest of the team rates it a nine out of complacency. How do we close this gap without the founder sounding like a chronic micromanager?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When you are the owner preparing for a clean exit, a rating discrepancy is a massive red flag. If your leadership team thinks the meeting is a nine but you feel it is a six, they are likely comfortable letting you do the heavy lifting during IDS. To close this gap, do not just lecture them about ownership. Use the rating segment at the end of the meeting as a diagnostic tool.

When you give your rating of six, state your reason clearly. Tell the team: I am rating this a six because I had to drive the solutions for three of our major issues today. If I am the one solving the problems, this business is not transferable, and we are not building a self-sustaining team.

To fix this, the facilitator must change how they run IDS. Next time an issue is raised, the facilitator should explicitly direct the problem-solving to the other leadership team members. The owner must practice intentional silence. Force the team to sit in the awkward silence until someone else proposes a path forward.

If the team continues to rate the meeting high while you rate it low, assign a to-do for the next weekly meeting to specifically define what a level ten rating looks like for your organization. A true Level 10 Meeting is one where the leadership team runs the show, makes hard decisions, and the founder barely speaks. Until your team is actively driving the solutions, your business remains founder-dependent, which severely hurts your valuation.