Our executive leadership team members insist on sitting in on their managers' departmental Level 10 Meetings to provide guidance, but it seems to stifle honest debate and stall manager autonomy. Should executive leaders attend departmental pulses?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Executive leaders should not attend departmental Level 10 Meetings on an ongoing basis. When an executive sits in the room, the dynamic instantly shifts from peer accountability to executive oversight. Managers stop debating root causes during IDS® and start performing for the boss.

Your role as an executive is to hold your direct reports accountable on your own leadership team pulse, not to micromanage their departmental meetings. The manager who owns the seat on the Accountability Chart must own that department's Level 10 Meeting™. They must learn how to facilitate, how to keep the agenda on time, and how to drive resolution with their direct reports.

If a manager struggles to facilitate, execute two specific steps instead of attending every week.

First, conduct a one-time observation audit. Sit in the back of the room for a single meeting as a silent observer. Do not speak, do not solve issues, and do not critique in front of the group. Provide structured feedback to the manager in your next one-on-one.

Second, ensure the manager has been thoroughly trained on the Level 10 Meeting agenda. Review the rules: same day, same time, same agenda, starting and ending on time, with strict time allocations.

If you do not trust your managers to run an effective meeting pulse, the problem is not their meeting structure. The problem is either GWC™ (they do not Get it, Want it, or have the Capacity to do it) or your own unwillingness to let go of the vine. Cut the cord and let them lead.