That conflict between your directors may not be what you think it is

Two directors on the same board. Ten years of tenure each.

The CHRO calls me. Open conflict, visible to everyone. Teams are taking sides. It’s contaminating everything.

The default response and why it falls short

Everyone’s first move: find the culprit. Analyse the personalities. Map the incompatibilities.

I could have done that.

What I saw instead: two experienced executives, perfectly capable of working together. But who had been going around in circles for months in a scope that had become too narrow ,no shared vision worth getting up for, no project large enough to hold them both.

When there’s nothing left to build together

When there’s nothing ambitious left to build together, you start watching what the other person is doing. And the frictions that went unnoticed when you were absorbed in real challenges become unbearable.

The conflict wasn’t the problem. It was the indicator.

What we actually worked on

Not the relationship between them. The projects ahead. What they wanted to build together that neither could build alone.

When the playing field becomes stimulating again, players stop eyeing each other with suspicion.

The question to ask before calling a mediator

The next time a conflict between two of your directors is flagged, ask them this before launching any formal process:

What is it that you no longer have enough appetite to build together?

The answer will often tell you more than the entire history of the conflict.