When multiple leadership team members are out of the office during holiday weeks, should we cancel our Level 10 Meeting™ or run a modified version with whoever is available?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

You should never cancel your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ unless the office is officially closed for a holiday. Canceling the meeting breaks your operational rhythm, delays critical decisions, and sends a message to the organization that your meeting pulse is optional rather than essential.

If key leaders are missing, you run the meeting anyway with whoever is present. This is the beauty of a highly structured operating system. The agenda remains exactly the same, and the remaining team members step up to cover the scorecard review and hold the pulse.

If the Integrator or the primary facilitator is absent, your pre-established backup facilitator steps in to run the room. If a specific seat owner is missing, their scorecard numbers and Rocks are still reviewed. Any metrics that are off-track or Rocks that are behind are noted, and if they require immediate attention, they are added to the Issues List to be solved by the remaining team.

Running the meeting with a partial team forces your leaders to document their progress and ensures that operational momentum is maintained. It also proves that your business operating system is mature and capable of running smoothly even when individual leaders are away, which is exactly what a potential buyer looks for during exit preparation.