Our sales director and our operations director are locked in a chronic cycle of passive-aggressive finger-pointing that is stalling our weekly leadership meetings and delaying our exit-readiness projects. How do we permanently resolve this peer conflict?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Peer conflict on a leadership team is a silent killer of enterprise value. When your sales and operations heads are at war, it filters down to their teams, creating silos and operational drag. You must address this immediately using the IDS® process.

Do not let them debate specific, petty incidents during your weekly Level 10 Meeting™. Bring both leaders into a private alignment meeting. Revisit the company Charter, focusing on the first pillar: Trust. Explain that trust requires vulnerability and open, honest communication, not passive-aggressive compliance.

Have each leader state their frustrations clearly, without defensiveness. You must identify the root cause of the friction. Often, this conflict stems from misaligned incentives or poorly defined roles on your Accountability Chart. For example, if sales is incentivized purely on volume while operations is judged on cost control, conflict is inevitable.

Adjust their individual Scorecard metrics to reward collaborative outcomes. Ensure their departmental Rocks are interdependent, forcing them to work together to succeed. If the behavior does not change after clear expectations are set, you have a Core Values issue. You must be prepared to replace the leader who refuses to put the greater good of the company first.