What Makes a Successful Leadership Team?
Defining what makes a successful leadership team can be challenging to say the least. There are so many necessary elements and qualities that should be present within a senior team that it’s impossible to pinpoint just one.
Within most leadership teams, there will be times when individual team members lack clarity about the company's direction or have divergent interpretations of a leader’s vision.
When this happens, they may not unite over a common purpose and see it through to a conclusion. One of the key ingredients to a successful leadership team, therefore, must be the capacity for all team members to unite, achieve clarity, and become aligned with the key goals, vision and desired outcomes for the business.
And the biggest challenge to any of this happening is the impossibility for the team to be objective and consider the implications of an individual division/department within a complete system - impartially enough to create a balanced perspective and strategy.
Here are a few other factors that are essential to the success of your leadership team:
Shared Vision and Alignment
It could be argued that it is the job of a leader to deliver critical outcomes, but this isn’t always easy in a capacity-constrained world. And made worse when the senior team members pull in different directions or have varying priorities regarding what the business needs most or needs to achieve next.
For leadership teams to unite and align over critical issues or changes, they may need time to reflect. They may need to make adjustments or even research to gain clarity about the implications of each action or decision.
When a team is clear on the outcomes, aligned and focused, it quickly becomes a force for rapid transformation.
Clear Leadership
Leaders need to be transparent with their senior team about the reasons they are asking for change and implementing new systems and approaches.
Leaders may need time to develop clarity over their direction and goals and design initiatives on how to overcome any challenges within the business.
When leadership teams know how they see things moving forward and the actions needed to make it happen, they will find it easier to implement and ensure everyone involved remains motivated.
The Ability to Reflect and Evaluate
Successful leadership teams know how to reflect, self-evaluate, communicate, share, and ask difficult questions. They are occasionally prepared to compromise a little to harmonise with the aims of the greater whole. Successful leaders understand the importance of establishing frameworks that foster reflection and deliver clear communication at every stage of each strategic intervention.
Meetings need to be logical and effective in creating meaningful strategies. Strategies, likewise, must be thoroughly thought out - with a clear and achievable goal or outcome in mind. Debates should be balanced, measured and inclusive.
A Keen Understanding of Key Business Systems
A successful leadership team understands that their business is a system—an interconnected set of smaller systems, processes, possibilities, and people all working together to deliver results.
The leadership team is responsible for understanding this system in detail so that each interconnected part flows smoothly into the next and there are no hidden areas of dysfunction, stagnation or limitation stopping the flow.
Understanding External Factors
The teams must also be aware of the external factors and interests impacting the business. They need to keep an ear to the ground for changes in their market, new technologies that could have an impact - shifts in the economy that could be uniquely relevant. They must constantly be aware of changes in legislation that could affect the business and the role and responsibilities of stakeholders.
CREATING A CULTURE OF PERFORMANCE
Often a word like ‘culture’ sends shivers through leadership teams.
Businesses that work understand that having a great culture is synonymous with success. A great culture is the result of belief. Belief in the story of the strategy and vision. The story that everyone in the enterprise can fluently tell.
Take a look at Hub Spot’s now famous ‘Culture Code’ - creating a company that we love. It first launched in 2013 and is now on version 33.8 but very little has changed about what made it so good.
Need help with peering into the nuts and bolts of your business? Get in touch with the team at Group Partners. We’ll help you to figure out what needs to change!
