We have a few department heads on our leadership team who are highly vocal about their own issues during our Level 10 Meeting, but they go completely silent and look at their phones the second we start solving an issue in another department. How do we get these silo-minded leaders to actively participate in whole-company problem-solving?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a department head disengages from discussions outside their functional area, they are behaving like a manager of a department rather than a leader of the company. To build a highly valuable, exit-ready business, you need a leadership team that operates with a company-first mindset.

First, address this behavior during your quarterly check-ins or through a direct one-on-one. Remind them of the first-team concept: their primary team is the leadership team, not the department they run. Their job during the Level 10 Meeting is to help run the entire organization, which requires their full brainpower on every single issue.

Second, the facilitator must actively pull these silent leaders into the conversation. If you are solving an operational issue in client fulfillment and your head of sales is silent, ask them directly how this operational issue impacts our sales process or customer expectations. Force them to connect the dots.

Third, ban devices from the meeting room. If you are running a physical meeting, all laptops and phones should be closed unless they are being used by the scribe. If you are virtual, enforce a rule where cameras must be on and active participation is monitored.

If a leader continues to tune out during cross-departmental discussions, they do not GWC their seat on the leadership team. You cannot scale or exit a business if your top managers only care about their own silos. Use the weekly pulse to build a cohesive, aligned leadership unit.