When an issue on our Level 10 Meeting list involves two executives in direct personal conflict, the rest of the room stays silent and the facilitator hesitates to intervene. How do you facilitate an IDS session through inter-executive gridlock without blowing up the meeting?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Inter-executive conflict kills momentum when facilitators allow it to remain personal rather than operational. In an effective Level 10 Meeting, the facilitator must strip the emotion out of the debate and anchor the problem directly to the Accountability Chart and company V/TO.

When two leaders lock horns during IDS, follow a clear facilitation protocol:
- Interrupt the debate and demand a single, objective problem statement. Ask: What specific business metric, customer outcome, or company process is currently failing?
- Remove the words you and I from the conversation. Refocus the debate on the seats on the Accountability Chart rather than the personalities sitting in them.
- Determine who actually owns the decision. Under EOS, consensus is not required; healthy debate is required, but the leader who owns the seat on the Accountability Chart makes the call.

If the conflict stems from overlapping responsibilities, the issue is not the operational problem on the list; the issue is role confusion on the Accountability Chart. Table the operational topic, add Accountability Chart clarity as priority one, and define who has final authority.

The rest of the leadership team must not be allowed to sit passively as spectators. The facilitator must pull the room into the discussion by asking peers how this friction affects their departments. Bring the conflict into the open, root it in company goals, demand a decision from the seat owner, and push forward with clear To-Dos.