Two of my leaders always nod and agree during our quarterly planning sessions, but as soon as we leave the room, they quietly sabotage each other's departmental Rocks. How do we break this pattern of passive-aggressive compliance?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Passive-aggressive compliance is a silent killer of execution. When leaders nod in agreement during meetings but work against those decisions in private, it means you have a major deficit in trust. Your leadership team must operate under a strict covenant where once a decision is made, everyone supports it with one voice. To break this pattern, you must address the behavior immediately and openly. During your next Level 10 Meeting™, bring this issue to the table and use IDS® to solve it. Do not let it slide. State the specific behaviors you have observed without being accusatory, but do not let them hide behind polite excuses. Reference your company Charter. Under the Same Page pillar, your team must commit to one vision, one voice, and one team. This means that debate is healthy during the planning phase, but once a decision is finalized, passive resistance is a violation of your team agreement. Make it clear that silent disagreement is unacceptable. Force them to state their objections during the meeting. If they continue to sabotage decisions after the meeting, it becomes a Core Values issue. They are failing to demonstrate trust and mutual respect. You must be prepared to remove a leader who cannot align with the group. A unified leadership team that executes a B-grade strategy will always beat a divided leadership team with an A-grade strategy.