How to fix leadership teams where strong voices overpower better decisions.

Your leadership team isn’t dysfunctional. It’s just too polite… or too dominated.”

Most agency leadership teams don’t fail because they argue.

They fail because they don’t know how to disagree well.

At one end: everyone’s too polite to say what they really think.

At the other: one or two strong voices who always win.

You’ve seen it:

Decisions made before the meeting starts

Team members nodding, then venting later

No real commitment—just quiet resistance

Here’s how I help reset the dynamic:

1. Surface the power plays. Rewire the rules.

Strong characters often don’t realise they dominate. Call it out:

“I noticed we defaulted to your view—did we test the alternatives?”

Try this:

No one speaks twice until everyone speaks once

Assign someone to argue the opposite

Summarise all options before closing

2. Separate input from ownership.

Everyone gives input.

Not everyone makes the call.

Set that up before the debate.

It stops power players hijacking outcomes by volume or title.

3. Make challenge a leadership duty.

If no one challenges the dominant view, that’s not alignment—it’s disengagement.

Say this:

“Your job isn’t to agree. It’s to make the decision better.”

4. Coach strong voices privately.

High-performers need high standards. Be clear:

“You have influence. But when it becomes dominance, it shuts better ideas down. I need you to lead differently.”

5. Reflect on the room.

After key decisions, ask:

Did we really test our options?

Did we choose the best idea—or just the most persistent one?

Strong voices aren’t the problem.

Unchallenged voices are.

👉 Build a leadership team that debates hard, decides fast - and your business moves faster than anyone else’s.

What’s your tactic for managing strong characters without silencing them?