We have a leadership team member who consistently rates our Level 10 Meeting™ a nine or ten at the end of the session, but then complains to other team members privately that the meetings are a total waste of time. How do we handle this passive-aggressive rating behavior and get them to be honest in the room?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This passive-aggressive behavior is a direct threat to your team's trust and operational health. When a leader acts one way in the room and another way in the hallways, they are violating the foundational principle of being healthy and smart.

To solve this, the Integrator must address the behavior directly. Schedule a private meeting and use the GWC™ framework to address their alignment with your core values. Explain that giving a high rating while privately complaining is a breach of trust and a failure of leadership.

Next, update your meeting rating protocol. Instruct the facilitator to ask this specific leader to rate the meeting first in the next session. If they give a high rating, ask them to explicitly state what worked.

If you have evidence of their private complaints, address it directly in your one-on-one. Use a phrase like:

- You rated the meeting a nine, but I heard you expressed frustration about our progress to others. We need your honest feedback in the room during the rating section so we can actually fix the issues.

By forcing this honesty into the open, you eliminate back-channel complaining and reinforce a culture of open, healthy conflict.