Two of my executives are constantly building alliances behind closed doors and lobbying other team members before our quarterly meetings to push their own agendas. How do we shut down this political lobbying and force them to resolve their issues directly?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When executives build alliances behind closed doors, they are engaging in status management behaviors. This happens because your leadership team lacks the vulnerability and safety needed to solve issues openly. They lobby peers because they do not trust that their ideas will survive a transparent debate during your Level 10 Meeting.

You must shut this behavior down immediately to maintain a healthy culture. Start by addressing this pattern during your next quarterly session. Call out the behavior directly without naming names, explaining that behind-the-scenes lobbying destroys trust and violates the core principles of EOS.

To transition the team, implement a hard rule: if an issue is not on your Level 10 Meeting issues list, it does not get discussed. When a leader attempts to lobby another peer privately, the peer must redirect them to put it on the issues list for the entire team to IDS.

Use the Trusted Advisor framework to shift them to an other-focused mindset. Force the two conflicting leaders to sit down and frame the issue from each other's perspectives before the meeting. When they are forced to present their peer's viewpoint, the political posturing melts away, allowing for a clean, vulnerable discussion that puts the greater good of the company first.