One of my strongest executives is highly opinionated and completely dominates our IDS sessions. The rest of the leadership team has shut down and stopped participating to avoid conflict. How do I rein in this dominant behavior without losing their drive?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Having a dominant executive who sucks the oxygen out of the room is a fast way to kill your leadership team's effectiveness. When one person dominates, they destroy safety. In his research on high-performing teams, Daniel Coyle notes that elite groups thrive on shared vulnerability and equal turn-taking. If your team is staying quiet to avoid conflict, you do not have peace. You have artificial harmony, which is a massive liability.

First, have a direct conversation outside of the meeting. This executive likely does not realize they are silencing the room. Frame the conversation around the health of the entire business, not their personality. Explain that for the business to scale, you need the collective intelligence of the entire team, not just one loud voice.

Second, use the IDS process strictly during your meetings. When an issue is on the table, do not let the loudest person speak first. Specifically call on other team members to share their perspectives. Use the Kolbe A Index profiles of your team to facilitate. If you have high Fact Finders who need time to process, or low Quick Starts who are risk-averse, consciously invite them into the conversation.

Third, hold this leader accountable using the GWC tool. To fit their seat on the leadership team, they must get it, want it, and have the capacity to lead. Part of capacity is the emotional intelligence to foster healthy debate rather than shutting it down. If they refuse to adapt, they are the wrong person in the seat, regardless of their individual performance. You cannot afford to let one dominant ego block the collective growth of the team that runs your company.