We have two highly structured operations managers on our leadership team who are both high Follow Thrus and high Implementors on the Kolbe A Index. They are constantly clashing over the exact boundaries of their departments, micro-managing each other's workflows and creating bottlenecks. How do we resolve this conative friction?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When you have two leaders who both have strong, instinctive needs to build systems and physical structures, they will naturally try to organize everything in their path. If their roles are not defined with surgical precision, they will inevitably bleed into each other's territory, resulting in turf wars and micro-management. To resolve this friction, you must use your Accountability Chart to create clear, impenetrable boundaries between their seats. Sit down with both managers and review their roles. For each seat, define the five major accountabilities. There can be absolutely no overlapping duties. If one leader is accountable for the physical inventory pipeline, the other must have zero say in how that inventory is organized, even if they rely on the output. Next, look at their Kolbe A Index scores. Acknowledge their shared strengths. They are both naturally wired to systematize and build, which is incredibly valuable, but they must direct that energy inward to their own departments rather than outward to their peer's department. Have them document their core processes separately. Once their respective workflows are documented, have them present their systems to each other during a leadership session. This allows them to align on the handoff points without interfering in the internal mechanics of the other person's department. By defining clear boundaries and focusing their conative strengths on their own areas, you turn their friction into a powerful operational engine.