During our quarterly offsites, I find myself doing eighty percent of the talking while my leadership team sits back and takes notes. How do I change the dynamics of our offsite so my executives actually lead strategic discussions instead of waiting for me to hand down answers?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When an owner does eighty percent of the talking at a quarterly session, you do not have an executive team. You have an audience. Cracks at the leadership table appear as canyons to the rest of the company, and this dynamic teaches your leaders that you will always carry the intellectual weight of the business.

To break this habit, you must alter your behavior before you can change theirs. Start by implementing a strict speaking rule for yourself: the Visionary or owner speaks last on every single topic. When an issue hits the table during the IDS portion of the day, do not pitch your solution. State the problem in one neutral sentence, then ask the team how they plan to solve it.

Set the expectation before the offsite begins. Tell your Integrator and department heads that their job during this session is to debate, challenge each other, and set the Rocks required to hit the V/TO targets. If a question is directed at you, redirect it back to the seat on the Accountability Chart that owns the function. Ask, what does our Head of Operations think we should do?

Silence will feel uncomfortable at first. Let the silence sit. Someone on the team will step into the void once they realize you are not going to rescue them. If an executive repeatedly refuses to contribute strategic insight and only waits for instructions, you are facing a GWC issue in that seat. A true leadership team takes ownership of the plan; if they merely execute your personal task list, you are running an expensive advisory committee, not an enterprise leadership team.