We never have arguments in our leadership team meetings, which sounds great on paper, but we also rarely solve our deepest operational issues. How do I force my leadership team to engage in healthy, uncomfortable conflict during our Level 10 Meeting sessions?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Superficial harmony is a silent killer for growth. When your leadership team meetings are completely polite, it means the real issues are being discussed in hallways or ignored entirely. To break this cycle, you must actively mine for conflict during your Level 10 Meeting sessions.

As the leader, you need to call out the elephant in the room. If you notice body language that suggests disagreement, pull on that thread immediately. Ask direct questions to get the unvarnished truth on the table.

Another critical step is to separate the issue from the person. Use the IDS process to put the problem on a whiteboard, physically separating it from the individual who owns the department. This depersonalizes the friction and allows the team to attack the issue together.

You also need to reward healthy pushback. When a team member disagrees with you or a peer in a constructive, data-backed way, publicly validate that behavior. Let them see that healthy conflict does not result in political fallout. Over time, this builds the deep peer trust needed to make fast, binding decisions that propel the company forward.