We implemented EOS® last year, but my leadership team is still carrying historical resentment from our pre-EOS days when I used to make unilateral decisions. How do we put these past grievances to bed so we can build genuine vulnerability-based trust?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Carrying historical resentment from the era before you implemented EOS® is a common bottleneck for growing companies. If your leadership team still remembers when you made unilateral decisions and ignored their input, they will naturally protect themselves by withholding their true thoughts. Building vulnerability-based trust takes time, but it starts with you owning your past behavior.

At your next quarterly collaborative session, you need to initiate the trust-building process. Explicitly acknowledge the old way of operating. Apologize for the times you bypassed the team or overrode their authority, and explain that you are fully committed to the EOS® process. This vulnerability from the top sets the tone for the rest of the leadership team.

Once you have cleared the air, use your Level 10 Meeting™ structure to reinforce this new dynamic. When an issue is put on the IDS® board, actively encourage dissent. Ask your quietest team members for their honest opinions and reward them when they challenge your ideas. When they see that healthy conflict does not result in retribution or executive overrules, their defensive walls will begin to crumble. Real trust is built when your team experiences safe, constructive debates week after week.