A top leadership team isn’t just another team.
The best practices and conventional wisdom of effective teams are just not sufficient to create a high-functioning team of C-level executives. The role and realities at the top create unique challenges.
Here are four (4) challenges that senior executive teams often face when they turn to Center for Creative Leadership for help:
1. The game has changed. Something is new and shakes up the team’s equilibrium. It could be a new CEO, a new team member, or new strategic challenges. Whatever the shift, the team struggles with focus, collaboration, and trust.
2. The battle to achieve both functional and company goals has multiple fronts. Senior executives typically play a dual role of leading their own function, while being responsible for the high-level goals of the business as a whole. This tension is constant, and can easily lead to lack of alignment and political infighting.
3. Conflict is either too intense or underplayed. Egos and disagreements overshadow substance. Alternatively, discussions are “too polite.” Either way, important conversations happen outside the room, difficult topics are avoided, and decisions don’t stick. At the senior team level, the ability to be transparent, give constructive feedback, and address team dynamics is crucial for success.
4. A “good enough” team is no longer enough. The team has been effective up to now, but they want to up their game. There is untapped potential among them. They are holding back, not challenging themselves to become a fully functioning, high-performing, best-in-class leadership team.
What Senior Teams Need to Do to Overcome These Challenges
- Senior executive teams need to invest in their own development.
- Make understanding and improving team dynamics and processes a priority; they are not secondary priorities to running the business.
- Without the ability to manage how they work together, top leaders will undermine the direction, alignment, and commitment needed to drive performance and see results.