The Silent Meeting Dilemma Mark, a seasoned engineering leader at a fast-growing SaaS company, sat in his weekly team meeting and felt an unsettling quiet settle over the room. He had just wrapped up explaining a major product shift, one that would require coordination across multiple teams. His developers nodded. His product manager scribbled something...
“I don’t trust him.” That’s what Mark, a VP of Engineering at a growing SaaS company, told me in our coaching session. He was frustrated with Tom, a Director on his team. “Every time we’re in a leadership meeting, he pushes back on my ideas. It feels like he’s challenging me just to challenge me....
Conflict at the executive level isn’t just frustrating—it’s costly. When leaders lock horns and refuse to “agree to disagree,” decision-making slows, teams take sides, and progress stalls. This isn’t just a leadership theory—it’s happening in executive teams everywhere. Take this real-world scenario: When Leaders Dig In Their Heels: A Common Executive Conflict Meet Sarah and...
