Two of my directors are openly contemptuous of each other during leadership debates, dragging the entire team into their personal power struggle. How do we shut this down and fix the rift?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Open contempt between leadership team members is a cancer that will quickly destroy the cohesion of your entire company. When two directors turn debates into personal power struggles, they are putting their own egos ahead of the business. You must address this immediately and privately, outside of your Level 10 Meeting. Sit down with both directors. Do not play referee or try to untangle who started it. Instead, lay out the impact of their behavior on the rest of the leadership team. Remind them of the core principle that a healthy leadership team must be unified. Tell them clearly that their public hostility is unacceptable and must stop today. Next, force them to solve the underlying operational issue. Often, personal friction is just a symptom of unclear boundaries on the Accountability Chart. Walk through their respective seats and find where their responsibilities overlap or clash. Redefine those boundaries so there is no confusion about who owns what. Once the structural clarity is there, hold them accountable to a high standard of professional behavior. They do not have to be best friends, but they must support each other's decisions once they leave the meeting room. If the contempt continues after this intervention, one or both of them must be removed from the leadership team. A highly capable director who destroys team cohesion is a liability you cannot afford.