We have a leader who uses the employee and customer headlines section to passively praise their team members for standard daily tasks to boost morale, which slows down the meeting momentum. How do we keep headlines strictly focused on actual news?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The customer and employee headlines section of the Level 10 Meeting™ is designed to share significant good or bad news about your people and your clients. It is not a platform for routine appreciation or performance reviews. When a leader uses this time to praise someone for simply doing their job, it dilutes the focus and drags down the energy of the meeting.

To correct this, the facilitator must enforce a strict definition of what qualifies as a headline. A headline is an exceptional event. It is a major client win, a significant customer issue, an employee promotion, or a sudden departure. Routine tasks and standard performance do not belong here.

If a leader begins to share a morale-boosting thank-you, the facilitator must gently but firmly redirect them. Explain that while appreciation is vital for culture, it belongs in company-wide communication channels or one-on-one sessions, not in the weekly leadership pulse. Remind the team that keeping this section under five minutes is crucial to saving time for IDS®.

In your preparation for a clean exit, buyers look for operational efficiency. Showing that your team can run highly disciplined, waste-free meetings is a major proof point of leadership maturity. Keep the headlines sharp, fast, and highly relevant.