Our Integrator acts as the Level 10 Meeting™ facilitator, but their dominant personality makes team members hesitant to challenge their view during IDS®. How do we maintain healthy peer-to-peer conflict when the boss is running the meeting?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When the facilitator of the Level 10 Meeting™ is also the dominant operational leader, it can easily stifle healthy conflict. Team members may worry about challenging the person who controls their budget or performance reviews, leading to artificial harmony and poor decision-making.

To correct this dynamic, the Integrator must explicitly separate their role as facilitator from their role as a participant. When facilitating, their primary responsibility is to manage the process, keep time, and ensure every voice is heard. They must consciously speak last during IDS® discussions to avoid anchoring the team to their perspective.

If the Integrator has a strong opinion on an issue, they should state that they are stepping out of the facilitator role for a moment to share their view, then step back in. Alternatively, you can rotate the facilitator role to another leadership team member. This distributes the meeting ownership and encourages a more level playing field.

Encourage the team to practice being humbly-confident. Real trust means that anyone on the team can challenge the Integrator without fear of negative consequences. Cultivating this healthy peer-to-peer conflict is essential to proving that your leadership team is mature and capable of running the business collaboratively, which is a major factor in preparing for a successful exit.