This is definitely one of the more challenging situations to resolve, especially when ownership and leadership are closely intertwined. When one owner is setting a strong example and another is undermining that through their behaviour, it sends mixed messages to employees and can quickly destroy trust and consistency.
In those cases, I would try to focus on impact, not intention. Rather than framing it as a personality conflict, I’d approach it by pointing out how the inconsistency is affecting the employees and business, whether that’s in morale, retention, or confusion around expectations. Data helps immensely with this as most business owners focus largely on overall company performance and statistics.
Most business owners genuinely want the company to succeed and the culture to thrive even if their approach is different. So, I’ll often align the conversation with bigger goals: ‘Here’s what employees are responding to positively, and here’s where we’re seeing issues or friction.