I am really enjoying re-reading Senior Leadership Teams - What it takes to make them great by Wageman, Nunes, Burruss and Hackman. What I like about the book is that it challenges the thinking around whether a new paradigm of running a business is through the executive team as opposed to a "Heroic CEO". What is interesting in our work is that so many senior teams talk about the need to be a high performing team and see it as an alternative leadership model to the omnipotent CEO but struggle to back up their words. We hear about parental team management, silo driven behaviours and individuals focusing on their our own agendas. But Executive Teams are indeed challenging to develop for a variety of reasons. These include
- The spotlight is on them – Every move is scrutinised and therefore it can impact on trust levels and drive individual agendas.
- The power dynamics are central to the operations of the group. Every choice and decision impacts on the success and future of each individual. The CEO is also the leader of the team and runs the business adding to this complexity.
- Accountability for performance can be a lot greater both from the Board and investors.
- Tension can exist between the cooperation needed to work as an enterprise team and the implicit competition of people who seek the CEO’s role.
- Individuals on the team are often stars in their own fields and practices and have been rewarded for outstanding individual competition
- Individuals play multiple roles that often conflict
These are significant challenges that we help senior teams overcome through our Senior Team Development Methodology. If you have an interest in developing senior teams I would highly recommend the above book - It is a beauty. If you want help in developing your senior team please see www.agilityconsulting.com.au
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