Our leadership team members are highly capable in their individual silos, but during our Level 10 Meetings, their focus is entirely on protecting their own department budgets and headcount rather than what is best for the overall business. How do we lower this self-orientation?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When leadership team members focus exclusively on their individual departments, they are operating with high self-orientation, which destroys trust and alignment. In a healthy company, leaders must wear their leadership hat first and their functional hat second.

To lower this self-orientation, you must shift their focus from local success to collective execution. Use the Trust Equation, which states that trust is built on credibility, reliability, and intimacy, divided by self-orientation. When self-orientation is high, trust drops, and collaboration fails.

Start by restructuring your Level 10 Meetings™ to emphasize collective ownership. When reviewing the scorecard, emphasize that the leadership team is collectively responsible for the health of the entire business, not just their individual metrics. If sales are down, it is an issue for the whole team to solve, not just the Head of Sales.

Next, align their goals through the V/TO®. Ensure your quarterly Rocks are company-wide priorities, and tie individual bonuses or incentives to the achievement of these company-wide goals rather than department-specific outcomes.

Finally, use the IDS® process to address silo-building behavior directly. When a leader acts defensively about their budget or headcount, ask them how their request helps the company achieve its overall vision. By continuously redirecting their attention to the enterprise level, you build a unified team that prioritizes the health of the business over individual empires.