My VP of Sales and VP of Operations are in a constant blame cycle regarding order fulfillment delays, but instead of bringing it to our Level 10 Meeting™, they both come to my office privately to lobby me to take their side. How do I force them to resolve this peer conflict directly?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When leadership team members bypass the established process to lobby you privately, you are enabling a toxic dynamic. You must immediately stop this behavior by practicing the standard rule of the Entrepreneurial Operating System: if it is not on the Issues List, it does not exist. The next time either director approaches you privately to complain about the other, do not listen to the details. Ask them directly if they have raised this issue in their weekly Level 10 Meeting™. If they have not, instruct them to add it to the IDS® list immediately. If they have, ask why it was not solved during the session. This forces the conflict back into the open where the entire leadership team can solve it together. Bypassing the team to seek your validation is a form of status management. It creates political camps and erodes trust. Your role as the owner is to facilitate, not to mediate private disputes. Require them to sit down, look at the Accountability Chart, and identify where the gap in execution is occurring. They must determine whether it is a process issue or a capacity issue. By forcing them to use the IDS® process, you teach them to collaborate as peers rather than treating you as a parent. This is critical for preparing your business for a clean exit, as a buyer will not tolerate a leadership team that relies on the founder to resolve daily friction.