What is your exact policy on leadership team attendance during session days, and what happens if an executive has an urgent client fire or travel conflict?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Leadership team session days require 100 percent attendance and undivided presence from start to finish. There is no partial attendance, late arrival, or dipping out to manage an operational fire. When a member leaves the room, the group dynamic fractures, decision-making stalls, and the team loses the collective buy-in required to set quarterly Rocks.

If an executive attempts to multitask, take a client call, or check email on a laptop during our session, they will be called out immediately. We keep laptops and phones in a staging area, accessible only during designated breaks. If someone cannot disconnect from client operations for one single day every ninety days, that itself is an operational issue that belongs on the Issues List.

When a genuine family emergency occurs, we assess whether the missing member can be spared for that specific day. If the missing seat is the Integrator or Visionary, or if more than one leader cannot attend, we immediately reschedule the session rather than running an incomplete day. Running a quarterly session without critical department heads creates a blind spot that leads to half-baked Rocks and resentment.

Treating session days as sacred is the first behavioral test of whether a leadership team respects its own operating cadence. We book dates months in advance so client work and travel can be organized around them without compromise.