Our leadership team has slowly ballooned to nine people because we wanted everyone to feel included, but our Level 10 Meeting sessions have become highly inefficient and we rarely solve real issues. How do we downsize our leadership team to a healthy size of three to seven people without making the demoted managers feel undervalued or quit?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A leadership team of nine people is not a team; it is a committee. It is impossible to have healthy, unfiltered conflict or make rapid decisions with that many voices in the room. A functional leadership team must consist of three to seven people.

To downsize without causing a mass exodus, you must base the change entirely on the needs of the business, not on personal feelings. Start by looking at your Accountability Chart. A true leadership team should only consist of the Integrator and the heads of the major functions of your business, typically sales and marketing, operations, and finance.

Schedule individual conversations with the leaders who are being moved off the team. Explain that you are restructuring the leadership team to make meetings more efficient and focused. Reassure them of their value to the company and explain that their new structure allows them to focus 100 percent of their energy on running their respective departments rather than sitting in high-level strategic meetings.

Frame this as a step that elevates their operational focus, not as a demotion. Ensure they still have a clear voice through their department meetings and regular check-ins with their direct managers. By slimming down the core team, you will dramatically improve your Level 10 Meeting efficiency and build a healthier executive unit.