Leading Across Boundaries
Are two of your departments working against each other?
After the workshop, a superintendent’s commitment:
Have genuine discussions where we challenge each other
Superintendent, mining operation, 2026
Is the problem sitting between two departments?
Leadership Team Effectiveness is for dysfunction within a team. This is for dysfunction between teams.
The habit is to blame the other department.
Each side assumes the worst about the other’s intentions.
Departments put real energy into undermining each other.
The project overruns for a reason nobody owns.
Two functions. One day in the room.
It also runs as a half-day to one-day module, inside Leadership Uncomplicated or on its own for a cohort of managers.
Step 1
Both sides in the room
Leaders of both functions work the problem together, with a senior LeadChange facilitator.
Step 2
Perspective first
Each side hears how the work looks from the other side before anyone argues a position.
Step 3
Work the real problem
The actual dependency or conflict, treated as a commercial problem, not a personal one.
Step 4
Agree how you’ll work
Partnering agreements between the named people who have to make it work.
Who it’s for
Two functions
That depend on each other and aren’t working together. Operations and maintenance is a common pair.
A cohort of managers
Who lead across department lines as part of the job, in the module form.
The problem is inside one team? Start with Leadership Team Effectiveness →
Why the two sides start working together
Commercial, not personal
The gap is counted in delay and rework, not blamed on people.
Some tension is natural
The work separates the tension built into the job from the tension people have made.
Ask earlier
Leaders ask the other function what’s coming before it lands on them.
How do you break down silos between operations and maintenance?
Start with one real dependency between the two functions. Put leaders from both functions in the room, and treat the gap as a commercial problem, not a personal one.
How long does it take?
Usually one day as an intervention. As a module, half a day to a day.
Is the problem between teams or within one?
If each team works well on its own and the trouble shows up where their work meets, it’s between teams. If it’s in one team’s own conversations, start with Leadership Team Effectiveness.
When you are ready
Start with the work that keeps going wrong between two teams.
30 minutes. No obligation. We’ll tell you whether we can help.
