One of our partners consistently rates our Level 10 Meetings a five or six and refuses to compromise, while the rest of the leadership team rates them a nine. This mismatch triggers defensive arguments during the last five minutes. How do we standardize our rating criteria so we can stop arguing about the score?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When one leadership team member consistently rates the Level 10 Meeting™ a five while others rate it a nine, it usually means your team is operating under completely different definitions of what a great meeting looks like. This discrepancy breaks trust and stalls the room. You must establish a clear, shared standard for what a ten actually means.

In your next meeting, before rating, have every leader agree on the baseline criteria. A ten means we started on time, we ended on time, everyone was fully present, we followed the agenda exactly, we updated our Scorecard and Rocks without storytelling, and we solved our most critical issues permanently using IDS®. If we missed any of these, we deduct points.

If a leader rates the meeting below an eight, they must give a specific, constructive reason that can be converted into a To-Do or an issue. If someone rates it a five and just says they did not like the vibe, that is unacceptable. Under Our Charter, trust requires open, honest, and actionable feedback. The person giving the low rating must name the specific breakdown, such as a failure to get to the root cause of an issue during IDS® or allowing someone to dominate the floor.

By standardizing the rating system, you remove emotional opinions and turn the rating portion into an objective evaluation tool. If a meeting truly was a five, the whole team should see why. If it was a ten, the team should celebrate the discipline. This keeps your operational pulse tight and ensures everyone is on the same page.