Two of my core leaders on the leadership team have a toxic personal rivalry that is forcing their departments into silos. How do I force them to resolve their interpersonal friction before it breaks the company?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When two leaders engage in an interpersonal war, their departments mirror the hostility. Hand-offs fail, finger-pointing increases, and operational speed drops to zero. As the owner or Integrator, you cannot treat this as an ordinary personality quirk. It is an urgent threat to business health.

First, pull both leaders into a private room. Do not let them bring operational data or department excuses. State the problem bluntly: your inability to communicate with respect and trust is visible to everyone, and it ends today. Frame the conflict around your Core Values and the 5 Dysfunctions of a Team. A lack of trust leads directly to an avoidance of accountability.

Second, run an interpersonal IDS session. Have each leader identify the top three behaviors from the other that are destroying their ability to work together. Force them to speak directly to one another, not through you. Identify the root cause: is it ambiguous territory on the Accountability Chart, misaligned departmental incentives, or raw ego?

Third, create clear, measurable behavioral commitments. If there are overlapping responsibilities on the Accountability Chart, clarify who owns the final decision. Document what professional communication looks like between their teams.

Give them thirty days to correct the dynamic. If they refuse to bury the feud and continue to undermine each other, you must remove the instigator. One toxic leader can destroy the performance of fifty good employees.