Every time my leadership team hits a roadblock or a tough decision in their department, they immediately escalate it to me for final approval. How do I force them to resolve these issues at their own level using the Accountability Chart?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When your team escalates every problem, it indicates that you have inadvertently trained them to treat you as the ultimate bottleneck. This behavior prevents you from operating as a true Visionary and hinders your leadership team from fully owning their seats. To rectify this, you must rigorously enforce the Accountability Chart.

Empowering Your Leadership Team

Every seat on your Accountability Chart must have clear, documented roles and responsibilities. When a leader presents you with a problem that falls squarely within their purview, resist the urge to solve it for them.

Instead, implement a consistent process:

• Ask a simple question: "What is your recommendation?"
• Force them to present a solution before you engage in any discussion about the issue itself.

This approach shifts the responsibility back to them and encourages proactive problem-solving. It also helps reinforce the idea that each seat has distinct accountabilities for their areas, a concept critical for a functioning leadership team. For insights on resolving internal disagreements, consider reading about [resolving leadership turf wars](/qa/resolving-leadership-turf-wars-accountability-chart).

Addressing Confidence and Competence

If a leader lacks the confidence to make the final call, it's time to evaluate their GWC (Gets it, Wants it, Capacity to do it) for that specific accountability.

• Do they truly understand and want the accountability for their seat?
• Do they possess the capacity to deliver on that accountability?

If they meet the GWC criteria, then you must empower them with the authority to make mistakes. Let them know that you support their decision-making, even if a call turns out to be suboptimal. This builds the psychological safety necessary for them to step up and take ownership, fostering a culture where they are not afraid to lead. This is also important when considering [internal promotion runways](/qa/internal-promotion-runway-accountability-chart) for new leaders.

Shifting Communication Habits

To further discourage immediate escalation:

• Stop answering emails and Slack messages with solutions.
• Direct them back to their own department Level 10 Meeting to IDS (Identify, Discuss, Solve) the issue with their respective teams.

This ensures that problems are first addressed at the lowest possible level, where the most specific expertise resides.

The Role of AI and Human Interaction

It's important to remember that AI never sits in the room for strategic problem-solving. Its role is supportive:

• Before the Level 10 Meeting: AI can prepare data, analyze trends, and identify potential issues. For example, AI can help [optimize EOS Scorecard metrics](/qa/ai-in-optimizing-eos-scorecard-metrics-and-accountability) to highlight areas needing attention.
• After the meeting: AI can capture and track decisions, action items, and progress.

The 90 minutes of your Level 10 Meeting should remain a human-centric exercise involving your leadership team, reviewing the scorecard, addressing the issues list, and engaging in the IDS conversation. For better meeting dynamics, explore tips on [handling defensiveness around red scorecard metrics](/qa/handling-defensiveness-around-red-scorecard-metrics) and [using the Accountability Chart to stop the blame game](/qa/using-accountability-chart-to-stop-blame-in-ids).

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