Our leadership team split into two camps during a difficult partner dispute, and even though the dispute is resolved, the passive-aggressive behavior and lack of collaboration are paralyzing our execution. How do we restore trust and get our leadership team back to functioning cohesively?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A split on your leadership team is a critical issue that will paralyze your business if left unaddressed. To restore trust, you must rebuild the foundation of vulnerability-based trust. You cannot simply ignore the tension and hope it goes away over time; you must confront it directly.

Schedule a dedicated offsite session to address the elephant in the room. This is not a strategic planning day, but rather a team health session. Start by having each leader share their personal history, including their greatest professional challenges and their personal backgrounds. This humanizes everyone in the room and breaks down defensive walls.

Next, run an exercise where each leader shares their single greatest contribution to the team and their single biggest area for growth. Encourage absolute honesty and vulnerability. Once the air is cleared, establish a set of team rules for healthy conflict and debate. Use your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ to keep the lines of communication open, and immediately bring any lingering passive-aggressive behavior to the Issues List to IDS® it on the spot. If a leader refuses to let go of old grudges, they must be removed from the team.