Our VP of Operations and VP of Sales are locked in a passive-aggressive power struggle, and they have started bypassing our Accountability Chart to give conflicting instructions directly to our middle managers. This is causing massive confusion and destroying morale. How do we stop this cross-departmental interference and force them to resolve their conflict?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When leaders bypass the Accountability Chart to wage proxy wars through middle managers, it paralyzes execution and breeds toxic politics. This behavior is a direct failure of Leadership, Management, and Accountability, or LMA. As the Integrator, you must step in immediately to enforce structural boundaries.

First, call a meeting with both leaders. Lay out the specific examples of where they have bypassed the chart and given conflicting directives. Make it clear that this behavior is unacceptable and must stop today. Use your Accountability Chart as the visual reference. If the VP of Sales has an issue with operations, they must address it directly with the VP of Operations during your weekly Level 10 Meeting, not by barking orders at an operations supervisor.

Second, use the IDS process to get to the root of their conflict. Often, this friction stems from misaligned departmental goals or a lack of clarity on who actually owns specific hand-off points between sales and operations. Force them to define exactly where sales ends and operations begins, and document these agreements in your core processes.

Third, hold them accountable to your core values. If trust and teamwork are on your V/TO, their behavior is a direct violation of who you are as a company. They do not have to be best friends, but they must respect the lines of communication. If they continue to undermine each other and confuse your staff after this alignment, one or both of them must be removed from the leadership team.