I currently occupy four seats on our Accountability Chart, including Visionary, Integrator, and Head of Operations. During our weekly Level 10 Meeting, my team gets confused and defensive because they cannot tell which seat I am speaking from. How do I manage multiple seats inside the meeting?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When an owner sits in multiple seats, they often jump between high-level vision, operational critique, and executive management in the span of a single sentence. This whipsaws your leadership team and creates defensive silence because employees never know whether they are receiving a casual brainstorming idea from the Visionary or a firm directive from their operational manager.

You must practice rigorous hat discipline inside your weekly Level 10 Meeting. Before you speak on any agenda item, Issue, or Rock, explicitly state which seat you are speaking from. Say out loud: Speaking as Head of Operations, here is why this delivery deadline failed. Or: Speaking as Visionary, here is a long-term idea for product expansion, but the Integrator will decide if we pursue it.

Next, adhere strictly to the reporting hierarchy during the meeting. When the Level 10 Meeting scorecard is reviewed, hold yourself accountable in the Operations seat just as strictly as any other department head. If your operational measurable is off track, drop it to the Issues List without making executive excuses.

Finally, treat your multiple seats as a temporary operational debt. Your primary goal over the next three to four quarters should be delegating those seats away one by one using the Elevate and Delegate tool. Until then, verbal transparency is the only way to keep your team engaged.