Our leadership team keeps having subtle passive-aggressive disagreements that drag down our momentum. How do we use a formalized Charter to establish clear rules of engagement for our executive team?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Passive-aggressive behavior on a leadership team is a sign of weak trust and a lack of clear rules. To resolve this friction, you need to establish a formal Charter for your leadership team.

A strong Charter is built on three core pillars: Trust, Same Page, and Yes to Strategy. Trust means everyone agrees to engage in healthy, honest conflict and resolve issues completely. Same Page means once a decision is made, the team speaks with one voice and supports the decision publicly, even if they disagreed in private. Yes to Strategy means every leader agrees to follow the established systems and structures of the company.

Have your leadership team co-create and sign this Charter. When expectations are written down, you can immediately call out passive-aggressive behavior as a violation of your agreed team rules, keeping everyone focused on execution.