I admit that I have historically been a highly dominant Visionary who ran over people in meetings. Now that I am trying to build a self-sustaining leadership team, my executives still sit in silence waiting for my opinion before they speak. How do I systematically break this dynamic?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Breaking a pattern of fear and reliance on your opinion requires a deliberate change in your behavior. If you always speak first, you will always decide first, and your team will never grow. To change this dynamic, you must change your physical and verbal presence in your Level 10 Meetings™. First, hand the running of the meeting completely over to your Integrator. As the Visionary, you should not be managing the agenda or driving the conversations. Sit in a different seat at the table if you meet in person, or mute your microphone online. Second, practice the rule of speaking last. During the IDS® portion of the meeting, force yourself to listen while every other leader analyzes the issue and proposes solutions. If someone asks for your opinion early, redirect the question back to the team. Ask them what they recommend and why. Third, actively reward pushback. When a leader disagrees with you or points out a flaw in your thinking, praise them publicly. This builds the vulnerability based trust needed for real debate. Over time, your team will realize that it is safe to lead, and they will begin to own their seats on the Accountability Chart instead of looking to you for permission.