Two of our key leaders are in a silent cold war that is killing speed, but they claim there is no issue when I bring it up. How do we smoke out this passive aggressive peer conflict?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A silent cold war on a leadership team is far more dangerous than open shouting matches. It creates invisible silos, slows down decision making, and forces direct reports to choose sides. If you allow it to continue, your team will lose trust and execution will grind to a halt. To break this deadlock, you must force the issue into the open. In your next Level 10 Meeting, put the relationship itself on the Issues List. Use the IDS process to identify, discuss, and solve the conflict. Do not let them off the hook with excuses like everything is fine. State the specific behaviors you have observed, such as passive aggressive emails or avoiding collaboration. Use conative profiling to depersonalize the tension. Often, peer conflict is not a personal issue but a conative clash. Compare their Kolbe A Index profiles. For example, a leader with a high Fact Finder score who needs endless data will naturally frustrate a high Quick Start leader who wants to move fast and take risks. Once the conative differences are clear, establish a rule for direct resolution. They must solve their issues peer to peer. If they cannot resolve a conflict within twenty-four hours, they must bring it to the Integrator to make a final decision. By bringing the conflict into the light and using objective frameworks, you remove the emotion and get back to solving operational bottlenecks.