Two of our key executives have developed a deep professional rivalry that shows up as intense, exhausting debates over every minor line item in our annual budget. How do we use the trust equation to isolate the root of this defensive behavior and move them from territory protection to collaborative strategic planning?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When two key leaders turn every budget meeting into an exhausting debate, you are not dealing with a financial issue; you are dealing with a lack of trust and high self-orientation. They are viewing the budget as a zero-sum game where one department's gain is another's loss.

To resolve this, you must apply the trust equation. Trust is built on credibility, reliability, and intimacy, divided by self-orientation. In this scenario, self-orientation is through the roof. They are focused on protecting their own turf rather than advancing the greater good of the company.

To fix this, force them to align on the V/TO® goals first. During your next Level 10 Meeting™, take the budget issues off the spreadsheet and put them into the IDS® portion of the agenda. Force both leaders to answer how their requested resources directly support the company's shared quarterly Rocks and 1-Year Plan.

Next, lower their self-orientation by making their incentives interdependent. If their success is tied exclusively to their departmental performance, they will continue to fight. Tie their success to overall company profitability. Once they realize that they win or lose together, the defensive posturing will dissolve into collaborative problem solving.