Two of my executives have developed a toxic personal friction where they bypass each other and lobby me individually to settle their disagreements. How do I shut down this triangulation and force real peer accountability?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When two executives lobby you privately instead of confronting each other, you are not acting as a chief executive; you are acting as an emotional buffer. Triangulation survives only because you allow it.

Every time a leader comes to your office or sends a private message to complain about a peer, shut it down immediately with one response: Have you addressed this directly with them? If the answer is no, terminate the conversation on the spot. Do not validate their complaint, do not offer advice, and do not carry their message.

If they claim they tried and hit a wall, force the issue into the open. Bring both leaders into your office immediately or put the issue on the Issues List for your next Level 10 Meeting™. Force them to sit across from each other and define the conflict in terms of business impact, scorecard misses, or core process breakdowns.

Reference Patrick Lencioni's principles on team health: peer conflict is healthy when it is ideological and focused on company results, but destructive when it is personal and passive-aggressive. If the friction stems from vague roles, use the Accountability Chart to draw sharp lines. If it stems from behavioral arrogance or lack of respect, use the People Analyzer®.

Make it unequivocally clear that executive maturity means resolving operational friction at the peer level. Leaders who refuse to work openly with their peers do not belong on a healthy leadership team.