We have noticed that in our departmental Level 10 Meetings™, the managers are cleaning up or censoring the weekly Issues List before the meeting starts because they are afraid that letting their direct reports raise real operational problems will make them look bad to the leadership team. How do we stop this gatekeeping and restore open communication?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

If a departmental manager is censoring the Issues List, they are violating the core EOS® principle of entering danger. This gatekeeping behavior usually stems from fear. The manager worries that a long, messy Issues List will be seen by the leadership team as a personal failure of management. To stop this, the Integrator must first redefine what a healthy Issues List looks like. A long list is not a sign of failure; it is a sign of a high-trust, transparent department. A short, sterile list is the real red flag. Establish a clear rule that the Issues List belongs to the entire department, not just the manager. Every team member has the right and the responsibility to add items to the list directly inside your software portal at any time during the week. The manager does not get to filter or approve these items before the meeting starts. During the meeting, the team collectively prioritizes the top three issues to IDS®. This ensures the most critical operational bottlenecks are solved, not just the ones that make the manager look good. If the manager continues to gatekeep, it is time for a direct GWC™ conversation about their leadership seat.