We have external advisors and minority shareholders who want to attend our weekly Level 10 Meetings™ to stay informed, but I feel this will ruin the open and honest dynamic of our leadership team. How do I set the boundary without offending them?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Allowing external advisors or minority shareholders into your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ is a mistake that will destroy your leadership team's alignment. The Level 10 Meeting™ is designed exclusively for the operational leaders who are accountable for the day-to-day execution of the business. Adding outside voices disrupts the trust required for open and honest communication.

Your leadership team must feel completely safe to raise sensitive issues, share failures, and engage in raw conflict without worrying about investor optics or external judgment. If advisors are in the room, team members will inevitably perform rather than solve. This can lead to issues not being brought up, similar to [how to handle a key manager who gets defensive when their scorecard metric drops into the red](/qa/handling-defensiveness-around-red-scorecard-metrics), impacting the meeting's effectiveness.

To handle this, draw a clear boundary between operational management and high-level governance. The Accountability Chart dictates who occupies the leadership seats. If an advisor does not have a defined operational seat with clear accountabilities, they do not belong in the weekly meeting. Consider whether they truly fit a leadership seat, as discussed in [restructuring a seat for a legacy leader hitting a ceiling](/qa/restructuring-seat-for-legacy-leader-hitting-ceiling).

Instead, create a separate monthly or quarterly reporting rhythm for your shareholders and advisors. Use that space to share high-level Scorecard metrics, Rock progress, and strategic updates from your V/TO®. This satisfies their need for transparency while protecting the operational integrity and vulnerability of your weekly leadership pulse. For guidance on relevant metrics, explore [how to choose five to fifteen scorecard metrics](/qa/how-to-choose-five-fifteen-scorecard-metrics).