Our head of sales and head of operations are constantly at war over service delivery, and their departmental friction is trickling down to the front lines. How do we resolve this deep-seated peer conflict at the leadership level when they refuse to find common ground during IDS sessions?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When your head of sales and head of operations are constantly at war, the conflict will quickly paralyze your front line. In many entrepreneurial companies, these two seats have natural structural tension. Sales wants to sell everything to everyone, while operations wants consistency and predictability. This friction becomes toxic when leaders protect their own silos instead of putting the business first.

To resolve this peer conflict, you must force them to look at the big picture. Your company V/TO® must serve as the single source of truth. Both leaders must align on the overall company goals, not just their departmental targets.

Bring the conflict directly into your next leadership team meeting and use the IDS® process to solve it. Do not allow them to have side conversations or complain to their teams. Force them to state the issue clearly, find the root cause, and agree on a solution that benefits the entire organization.

Remind both leaders that they are members of the leadership team first and heads of their departments second. If they cannot resolve their differences and support each other's success, they are violating your core values. A healthy leadership team requires mutual trust and collaboration. If one or both leaders refuse to cooperate after clear coaching, you must replace them to maintain operational momentum.