What can you do if your executive team is not functioning as it should? Perhaps it is time for action learning for leadership development – the process of executing your strategy while simultaneously building better leaders and more cohesive leadership teams.
Let’s assume the team has the talent needed for success and supports the overall goals and strategy for the organization’s future. But perhaps success metrics are unclear, decisions are poorly made, agreements are not kept or egos get in the way of effective communication.
Work with a skilled leadership consultant to set up scenarios to test what’s going wrong and let the executives experience in real time what the consequences of any dysfunction might be. Let them work through what needs to change in order to improve their collaboration and tweak their behavior to achieve the common goal…keeping the boat afloat.
- Is there a feeling of mutual trust? To function well, a team needs to feel confidence that each member is capable and willing to fulfill their role in the organization.
- Is there accountability with consequences for non-performance? Team members need to do what they say they will do.
- Are team members able to discuss and resolve differences openly? This takes good communication skills along with straightforward, respectful language and behavior.
- Is the team committed to working together collaboratively to achieve organizational goals? They may have to put aside individual goals in order to do what is best for the company as a whole.
