Two of our most critical leadership team members are quietly resisting the Level 10 Meeting™ structure and refuse to use the IDS® process, calling it forced and unnatural. How do we break through this resistance without destroying team harmony?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Resistance to the Level 10 Meeting™ and IDS® process usually stems from fear of exposure or a preference for back-channel communication. When leaders call these structured meetings forced, they are often defending their right to stay in their comfortable, siloed ways of working.

To break this resistance, you must enforce the discipline of the weekly meeting without compromise. Do not allow your team to slip back into informal, status-update meetings. If a leader brings up an issue outside of the weekly meeting, do not solve it in the hallway. Direct them to put it on the Level 10 Meeting agenda so the entire team can solve it together.

When running IDS, ensure you are focusing on business issues and not personal attacks. Use the three-step approach: Identify, Discuss, and Solve. Ensure the person raising the issue clearly identifies the root cause before the discussion begins. This prevents the session from devolving into a complain session.

If the resistance persists, you must have a direct one-on-one conversation using the GWC™ framework. Ask if they genuinely get, want, and have the capacity to operate in a transparent, highly accountable culture. If they cannot operate within this structure, they are not the right person for their seat.