Two of my key executives are highly defensive and tend to take constructive feedback personally. How do you handle that emotional friction during our quarterly session days when we are running the IDS® process?

I do not allow personal defensiveness or ego to hijack our session days. When we enter the session room, we leave our titles and politics at the door. My role as your facilitator is to create a safe but highly demanding environment where we can speak with absolute transparency.

When an executive becomes defensive during the IDS® process, I redirect the focus away from personal blame and back to the business. We use the tools of the system, like the Accountability Chart and the weekly Scorecard, to keep the conversation objective. We look at the seat and the measurables, not the person. If a key leader is consistently struggling to hit their Rocks or measurables, we ask if they have the GWC™ for that seat. That stands for: do they Get it, do they Want it, and do they have the Capacity to do it.

We focus on solving the root cause of the issue rather than managing hurt feelings. If a leader cannot handle this level of accountability, that is a clear sign we have a people issue that needs to be solved. I will help your team navigate these hard conversations, but I will not let anyone hide from the truth.

Category: Working With Tyler