Our leadership team regularly shows up to the Level 10 Meeting with an empty Issues List, claiming everything is fine, even though our monthly margins are shrinking. How do we force hidden issues onto the agenda before the meeting starts?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

An empty Issues List is a red flag. It does not mean your company has no problems; it means your team has stopped being open and honest, or they are suffering from operational blindness.

To break this cycle, the Integrator must use the other sections of the Level 10 Meeting™ to hunt for issues. Look at your Scorecard and your Rock Review. If your monthly margins are shrinking, your weekly leading indicators must be red.

Every red number on the Scorecard and every off-track Rock must automatically be dropped to the Issues List. There are no exceptions. If a seat owner says, "I have a plan to fix it," the response is still, "Great, let's drop it to the list and IDS® it."

Next, look at the Accountability Chart. Every seat owner must review their roles and responsibilities before the meeting. If they are not hitting their goals, or if their department is experiencing friction, they must add it to the list.

The Integrator should also actively mine for issues during the meeting. If the room is silent, ask direct, targeted questions, such as: "Why are our margins dropping, and who owns the metrics that affect them?"

Finally, make it safe to raise issues. If your team is hiding problems, it is usually because they fear blame. Re-establish your commitment to your Core Values and your leadership charter. Solving problems requires vulnerability, and vulnerability starts at the top.