When a leadership team member reports their quarterly Rock as off-track during our Level 10 Meeting™ review, they consistently argue against dropping it to the Issues List, promising they will catch up next week. How do we handle a recurring off-track Rock without allowing the owner to make excuses?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A Rock is a priority that must be achieved this quarter. When a leader reports a Rock as off-track during the review, the only acceptable response is to drop it to the Issues List. Do not let them explain why it is off-track, and do not accept promises that they will catch up next week.

The five-minute Rock Review is strictly binary: on-track or off-track. If it is off-track, it goes to the list. The reason leaders resist dropping off-track Rocks to the Issues List is because they view it as a personal failure. You must break this stigma. Dropping an off-track Rock to the list is not a punishment; it is a request for help from the leadership team.

Once the Rock is on the Issues List, you will IDS® it during the proper portion of the meeting. The team can help identify the bottlenecks, adjust resources, or realign priorities. This is how you live your Charter pillar of Trust and operating as one team.

If a leader routinely keeps a Rock off-track for multiple weeks without asking for help, you have a deeper accountability issue. Use your weekly pulse to catch these delays early, and force the discussion so the company's most important priorities do not slip.