We just brought in an external executive to run our finance department, but our existing leadership team has worked together for a decade and has a deep, almost familial bond. The new hire is struggling to break into this inner circle, and our Level 10 Meetings have become awkward and guarded. How do we fast-track professional intimacy and build safety for this new leader?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A tight-knit, long-standing leadership team can easily become an exclusive clique without intending to. When a new leader enters this environment, they naturally feel like an outsider, which triggers status management and guarded behavior on both sides. To fix this, you must actively build belonging cues and safety.

Start by creating opportunities for professional intimacy outside of your standard weekly meetings. This does not mean corporate trust falls. It means structuring honest, vulnerable conversations. During your next quarterly offsite, have every team member share their personal history, their biggest professional challenge, and their conative strengths using their Kolbe A Index profiles.

In your weekly Level 10 Meeting, ensure the new leader is fully integrated into the scorecard and issues solving. The team must actively pull the new executive into conversations. If the new finance leader raises an issue, the team must address it with an other-focused mindset, rather than defending legacy systems.

Encourage the Integrator to have regular, informal one-on-one check-ins with the new hire. Ask them directly what barriers they are experiencing and how the team can make them feel safer. Integrating a new executive requires intentional effort from the existing team to share vulnerability first, allowing the new hire to do the same.