Leading a leadership team
At various levels within organisations there are numerous self-identified ‘leadership teams’. These can go by various names such as the Executive Team, the Senior Leadership Team, Divisional Leadership Team etc. and typically consist of heads of various teams or functions that often come together, led by the most senior person in the group, to regularly to discuss issues and challenges, and make decisions.
If you are reading this, you may be leading or a member of one of these leadership teams. You may even lead one leadership team, while being a member of a leadership team one level up. Do you feel it really operates as a genuine and committed leadership team, where there is a collective sense of purpose and accountability for performance where you have each other’s backs?
So, if you are a member of a leadership team, does it operate as a real leadership team?
Oftentimes such groups are created, and little thought has been given to the reason for their existence or role. They simply meet regularly and call themselves a leadership team primarily because of the organisational structure. The risk of not being intentional about being a leadership team is either some members being disappointed or frustrated in not meeting their expectations of what a leadership team should be, or you may be missing a significant opportunity to drive performance through operating as a genuine leadership team.
The first threshold question that needs to be considered is:
Should we be a team or a working group?
This is a critical question as it will fundamentally affect the purpose and way of working. Often it is simply assumed that we should be a team, because we’ve called ourselves a leadership team. A working group is defined by Katzenbach & Smith in the Wisdom of Teams as a ‘group for which there is no incremental performance need or opportunity that would require it to become a team. The members interact primarily to share information, best practices, or perspectives and to make decisions to help each individual perform within his or her area of responsibility’. It is a legitimate option to operate as a working group, particularly where a leader has accountability for a set of functions that have limited alignment with each other. If you really should be a working group, then it would only need to operate as such. Being explicit about this sets clear expectations, explains the rationale for the group having meetings, and can avoid potential frustrations of those who have assumed it should be a team.
Katzenback and Smith define a high performing team as ‘a small group of people so committed to something larger than themselves that they will not be denied’. So, if you conclude that the group should be a team, then you have some work to do!
We have worked with many leadership teams over the years who have determined that they should and want to operate as a leadership team. Using a basic framework shown below, we help them work through a series of important questions, in the sequence outlined:
- Purpose – Why do you exist as a team? What is our core purpose? Typical elements might include references to setting direction, inspiring people, and creating cohesion.
- Success Indicators – What results would we expect to see if this team is operating at peak performance? What are the direct impacts that could be laid at the feet of this team? Typical indicators might include achieving alignment of effort, timely decision-making, and shared understanding of priorities.
- Tasks we do together as a team – What are the key activities, tasks, responsibilities do we need to undertake together as a leadership team? Typical activities might include setting directions, defining cultural values, monitoring risks, and facilitating succession planning.
- Tasks we do individually on behalf of the team – What are the key activities and tasks we each have a responsibility individually to undertake on behalf of this leadership team? Typical activities might include managing key stakeholder relationships, communicating leadership team decisions, following through on leadership team actions, and providing context to our teams.
- Behaviours in engaging with each other – What behaviours do we need to consistently demonstrate when working together with each other? Typical behavioural commitments might include admitting weaknesses and mistakes, engaging in constructive conflict, clarifying expectations and assumptions, and committing to decisions regardless of initial position. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team framework by Patrick Lencioni can be a useful reference in exploring these behavioural commitments.
- Brand/Identity – What do we want to be known for by our key stakeholders? Typical elements might include being visible, decisive, transparent, and aligned.
- Behaviours in engaging with others – What behaviours do we need to demonstrate when dealing with other stakeholders outside of this team (our staff, other parts of the business) that are consistent with our desired brand/identity? Typical behavioural commitments might include speaking positively about leadership team colleagues, consistently demonstrate agreed cultural values, being responsive and approachable, and openly listening and accepting and offering feedback.
- Continuous learning and improvement – How will we continue to reflect, learn, and improve as a leadership team? How will we hold ourselves accountable? Typical mechanisms include regular leadership team reflections, seeking feedback from each other, identifying and reviewing priority areas for focus, and undertaking in-depth reviews of specific leadership team activities.
Through exploring and succinctly answering these questions you can produce a leadership team charter that can be used for ongoing reference and reflection. An example of what a possible one-page charter can look like is provided below:
The process of a leadership team discussing and articulating its purpose, role, and behaviours can be a powerful way for the team to engage, develop further cohesion, and commit to being a real leadership team.
Good luck on your journey of leading a leadership team!
** Sometimes it is useful to have someone external facilitate this discussion. If you’d like to know more, please contact paul.eyres@eyresandassociates.com.au