The tension wasn’t obvious at first.
The VP of Sales and the Head of Operations both said the right things in leadership meetings.
They agreed on priorities. Nodded during updates. Delivered on their numbers.
But underneath the surface, deadlines were slipping, teams were frustrated, and handoffs were getting lost in translation.
It wasn’t dysfunction.
It was a behavioral mismatch.
🧠 The PI Reveal
During a Strategy Alignment Session, we ran a Relationship Guide using Predictive Index.
Here’s what it showed:
-
VP of Sales: High dominance, low patience, strong extraversion — wired for urgency, momentum, and influence.
-
Head of Ops: High formality, high patience, lower extraversion — driven by precision, predictability, and control.
They weren’t clashing because of character.
They were wired for different styles of leadership.
And their teams were caught in the middle.
🔄 The Misalignment in Action
-
Sales would promise fast delivery. Ops would delay for quality.
-
Sales wanted to pivot based on the latest customer ask. Ops needed time to assess feasibility.
-
The sales team viewed Ops as blockers. Ops viewed Sales as reckless.
Both leaders were capable.
But their collaboration was eroding trust.
🔧 What We Did
We facilitated a PI-guided session to:
✅ Highlight their behavioral drives in side-by-side view
✅ Translate those into communication preferences
✅ Define specific ways to work together without constant friction
They walked away with a shared language.
More importantly — they stopped assuming each other’s intent.
📈 The Results
-
Joint initiatives moved forward faster
-
Team frustration dropped
-
The CEO stopped playing referee
-
And for the first time, they co-owned a customer-facing priority without drama
💬 The Takeaway
Not all leadership tension is personal. Some of it is predictable — and fixable — with behavioral insight.
This is why we don’t just facilitate strategy conversations.
We help leaders understand how they’re wired — and how to work with those who aren’t.
📅 [Book a Strategy Alignment Session]
Let’s turn friction into forward motion.
