The summer season is often the time when I work with executive teams to examine how to improve their effectiveness as a team. A key factor in their ineffectiveness is poor alignment. A lack of alliance between members of the executive team is a recipe for disaster. Confidence on the part of customers, clients, colleagues, stockholders and employees is deeply rooted in the perception that the top tier of the organization can execute strategy efficiently and effectively. When that is missing, the impact is deep and wide.
An aligned senior team is one where all the members act as caretakers and overseers of the organization in addition to acting as drivers of its success. They view their membership of the senior team as taking precedence over their functional responsibilities and they are open and supportive of one another.
How can you tell if your senior team is a high performing team that is in alignment?
- The incentive system rewards the team, not the individual.
- Members collaborate rather than compete.
- Top team members marshal all organizational resources to accomplish organizational goals.
- Team members develop a business strategy to deliver value which in turn creates financial results (or quantifiable service outcomes).
- The business strategy is clear, measurable, and specifies the competitive advantage of the organization.
- The business strategy is clearly communicated to all employees.
- Team members spend significant amounts of time together.
- Team members have time to ask for help from each other, share learning, and celebrate success.
- Non-team alignment behavior is not tolerated.
An aligned Executive Team is the focal point of strategy execution. The leader that can handle the bumps of effective team development will be rewarded with an effective team that is built at the same time that the work is getting done.
