My VP of Sales and VP of Operations are in a constant finger-pointing loop over customer churn, with sales blaming poor delivery and operations blaming bad-fit sales. It is starting to poison their departments. How do I force them to resolve this peer conflict without playing referee?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Peer conflict between sales and operations is a classic symptom of high self-orientation, where each leader is focused on protecting their department rather than solving the business's root problems. When sales blames poor delivery and operations blames bad-fit customers, the entire company suffers.

To break this cycle, you must remove yourself as the referee and force them to solve the problem together. Bring them into a structured IDS® session. Start by defining the issue not as a sales or operational failure, but as a joint company issue: customer churn.

Use the Trust Equation from Charles H. Green's framework to show them how their protective behaviors are lowering team trust. When leaders focus on self-preservation, their credibility drops.

To resolve this, assign them a joint Rock for the upcoming quarter. This Rock should focus specifically on improving the customer hand-off process and reducing churn. Make their individual success dependent on their joint execution. By forcing them to share accountability and co-create the solution, you shift their focus from finger-pointing to collaborative problem-solving.