We recently hired two highly experienced outside executives to our leadership team, but our legacy team members are keeping them at arm's length, leading to a lack of trust and very superficial discussions. How do we break down these walls and build genuine trust so we can engage in healthy conflict?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When you inject external executive talent into a legacy leadership team, friction is natural. Your long-term employees have shared history and unspoken rules, while the new hires represent change. To break down these walls, you must build vulnerability-based trust.

Trust is not about believing someone will not make a mistake; it is about knowing you can be completely open, honest, and vulnerable with each other. To accelerate this on your leadership team, you need to dedicate time during your next quarterly planning session to run a personal histories exercise. Have everyone share where they grew up, how many siblings they have, and the toughest challenge they faced in their early life. This simple exercise humanizes team members and breaks down defensive walls.

Additionally, you must model vulnerability yourself. Admit when you do not know the answer, own your mistakes openly, and encourage your legacy leaders to do the same.

Once vulnerability-based trust is established, healthy conflict can follow. Use your Level 10 Meetings to practice entering the danger zone. When you see a superficial discussion occurring, call it out and push the team to engage in real, unfiltered debate. A cohesive, healthy leadership team is critical to building a transferable, exit-ready business.