When a leadership team member is absent from our Level 10 Meeting, we often skip their high-priority issues because we feel we cannot solve them without their input, which delays critical decisions. How do we handle urgent issues when the owner is not in the room?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The business cannot pause because one person is absent. To prepare your company for a clean exit, your systems and decision-making processes must be strong enough to function even when key leaders are missing.

First, when an absent leader's high-priority issue comes up during IDS, the team must assess its urgency. If the issue is critical and delaying it by one week will cause operational harm or affect a client, you must solve it immediately with the people in the room. Trust your team's collective intelligence to make the call.

Second, assign a weekly To-Do to a present team member to communicate the decision and the context to the absent leader as soon as they return. This ensures they are fully aligned and can execute their part without delay.

Third, if the issue is complex and truly requires their unique technical expertise, you can postpone it, but only if it does not stall other departments. If you must postpone, use the time to gather necessary data so that when the leader returns, you can IDS the issue in record time. This keeps your weekly meeting pulse highly efficient and results-oriented.