Tips for Cohesion, Collaboration, and Success
Developing high-performance executive teams is critical to the success of any organization. Such a team must be cohesive, aligned, and focused on the organization’s purpose and values. Here are some essential tips on how to build a successful, high-performing executive team.
- Have a Solid Charter with Team Norms, Values, and Strengths
A team charter outlines the team’s purpose, goals, roles, and responsibilities. It also includes team norms, values, and strengths. By having a well-defined charter, team members can align their efforts towards common goals and culture, and identify their individual strengths and contributions to the team. - Land on Purpose and Shared Values to Create Cohesion and Shared Focus
The team’s purpose and shared values should be clear to all members of the team. These should be communicated and reinforced through ongoing dialogue, and they should be reflected in the team’s decisions and actions. This will create a sense of cohesion and shared focus, which is critical to team success. - Leverage Strengths
Each team member brings unique strengths to the table. Leaders should focus on identifying and leveraging these strengths to maximize team performance. By doing so, the team can achieve more significant outcomes than any individual could on their own. - Have a 1-Team Approach.
Leaders should adopt a “1-team approach,” as described by Patrick Lencioni in his book, The Advantage. This means that team members must prioritize the team’s success above individual success. By doing so, the team can overcome silos, improve communication, and work more effectively together.
- Develop a Growth Mindset
Leaders should foster a growth mindset within the team, emphasizing that failures are opportunities for learning and growth. This mindset will create a continuous improvement and innovation culture, which is critical to staying ahead of the competition. - Listen, Agree on What You Can, and Contribute Your Own Ideas
Leaders should ensure that team members are actively listening to each other and contributing their own ideas. By doing so, the team can benefit from diverse perspectives and ideas, leading to better decisions and outcomes. - Use the “Yes…And…” (Positive Intelligence) to Collaborate
Collaboration is essential to team success. Leaders should encourage using “Yes…And…” in team meetings, promoting positive, open-minded, and collaborative dialogue. This technique allows team members to build on each other’s ideas, leading to better outcomes. - Mind Your Collective Impact on Team Members and Stakeholders
Leaders should consider the impact of their decisions on team members and stakeholders. By doing so, they can ensure that decisions are in the best interest of the organization as a whole. Get input and consult before solidifying changes. - Diffuse
Leaders should be mindful of workload and timelines, ensuring they set realistic expectations for themselves and others. They should also provide sufficient resources to support the team’s efforts. - Ensure Processes are Aligned with the Desired Path and Outcomes
Leaders should ensure that processes are aligned with the team’s goals and outcomes. This will help the team stay on track and achieve its objectives. - Take a We Versus Me Perspective
Leaders should encourage a “we versus me” perspective, emphasising team success over individual success. This perspective will create a culture of collaboration and teamwork. - Reflect, Increase Awareness, Learn, and Iterate on the Learning and Successes
Leaders should encourage team members to reflect on their successes and learn from their failures. By doing so, the team can continuously improve and achieve better.
Realigning your high-performance executive teams
In conclusion, building high-performing executive teams requires a thoughtful and intentional approach. Leaders can create a cohesive and high-performing team by establishing a solid charter, aligning around purpose and values, leveraging strengths, and adopting a growth mindset. Additionally, positive intelligence techniques such as “Yes…And…” and prioritizing team success over individual success can further enhance collaboration and teamwork.
Leaders should also be mindful of their collective impact on team members and stakeholders, diffusing workload and timelines as needed and ensuring sufficient resources are available. Finally, reflecting on successes and failures, increasing awareness, and continuously learning and iterating on the team’s performance will help ensure sustained success. By implementing these strategies, organizations can build a strong, high-performing executive team well-positioned to navigate today’s complex business landscape challenges.
How can Leadership and Executive coaching help you optimise your executive team’s effectiveness?
Leadership and executive coaching can be valuable tools in helping you build the capabilities to work together effectively as an executive leadership team. A coach can work with you to establish how you work together to effectively implement and do the organizational work you are called to do. They can also support how to build psychological safety, collaborate from your shared values and do the ongoing reflection on your actions required to learn, build on the learning and success, and innovate therefrom.
Coaching can also provide a safe space for you to explore ways to move forward more effectively through communication, alignment, collaboration, influence, and innovation capabilities, as well as to create team and organizational cultures that are healthy and well functioning.
If you want to explore coaching to strengthen your leadership team’s effectiveness, please book a complimentary exploration call with me to discuss options.