Atlanta Human Resources Consulting and Executive Coaching Firm Articles by Corporate Performance Strategies

As we all know, leadership effectiveness is a critical factor in determining whether a company will prosper or fail. Under pressure to continually raise the performance bar for executives, the CEO must be continually focused on building the strongest team of executives to lead the organization through good and bad times. An organization's HR leader plays a crucial role in the success of this team building effort by assessing, evaluating, developing and staffing the top team members. After all, if the top team conflicts, has weak links, does not openly support the CEO's direction and/or does not exhibit behaviors required to establish a new culture, the rest of the organization will not be committed or motivated to follow.

In Jim Collins' book, Good to Great, he described what has been vital for companies that have moved from good to great performance: "We expected that good-to-great leaders would begin by setting a new vision and strategy. We found instead that they first got the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats - and then they figured out where to drive it. People are not your most important asset. The right people are."

Here are some tips for accelerating the development of a high performing top team that I have found useful over the years:

Rapidly assimilate a new CEO or Senior Executive. Most companies attempt to recruit and hire the very best, with little effort focused on orienting the newly arrived executive or building his/her team after the hire. Assimilate the new executive by implementing a process that jump-starts team performance with rapid introductions and dialogue on new expectations, ground rules, short and long term objectives, standards and styles. The HR leader interviews the senior leader's staff and works with the incoming leader to hold a series of facilitated team sessions that create an environment for sharing and opening up dialogue on key issues. After all, most new leaders are put in place for a reason.
Coach the New Leader on Effective Behaviors. You can help the new senior leader in at least two important ways. First, you have the benefit of experience with the senior executives and know their strengths and limitations. Second, you understand the current culture and what it will take to make changes as required, most typically, by the new senior leader. Establish very quickly an effective working relationship with the new senior executive, starting with the recruiting process, and provide specific behavioral suggestions to him/her on how to implement his/her agenda for change. Work with his/her team members to coach them on more effective team and leadership behaviors as these arise as a result of the new leader's expectations.
Create the structure to build a commonly shared vision. Establish a communications plan with the senior executive that facilitates the development of a new vision, values, priorities, and expectations. I have found that bi-weekly staff meetings, quarterly executive meetings and semi-annual strategy sessions are very effective. The key ingredient is to have very specific and relevant agenda items and ensure that candid and open communications behaviors are the norm. Executives have to prioritize the communications process and this time on their agenda in order to make this happen.
Create an effective employee communications plan. Once the top team has established consensus on direction, there are a few simple communications steps that can be taken that are very effective. Set up "skip-level" meetings with the senior executive and his/her team to go directly to the employees with the new messages. Publish a monthly email from the top executive to all employees outlining the state of the business and status on key initiatives. Even in troubled companies, this will be crucial. There is nothing worse for employee retention than ambiguity and not knowing the business conditions, plans and expectations. Set up town hall meeting formats in the various locations and ensure the most senior team is communicating and listening directly to employee concerns. The key ingredient is to follow up on the common themes expressed to the senior leadership team.
Guide the team through the stages of development. Recognize that teams go through stages of development: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Understanding these stages and facilitating the successful passage to the next appropriate stage is critical for effective team performance. For example, in the forming stage, your role is to encourage the team to get acquainted and spend time on social discussions in addition to work-related discussions, all to assist the team in building trust and open dialogue. Your role in the storming stage is to ensure that everyone expresses their ideas, opinions, suggestions and disagreements and to help the team work through conflicting views on direction and goals. Storming is a natural step in successful team evolution. By understanding and helping the senior team go through these stages you can quickly improve the team's leadership effectiveness.
Show executives the way to success. Clarifying your expectations for successful leadership is more likely to lead to success. Stating that teamwork among the executives is expected will set the tone. However, defining, measuring and evaluating teamwork is more likely to lead to changes and increased effectiveness. Developing clear competencies will guide executives on what is expected and how these will be evaluated. For example, measuring executives with a 360-degree survey on behaviors such as, "Openly promotes and supports their peers' perspectives to direct reports," or "Encourages and establishes cross-functional teams to solve organizational issues," lays out the specific types of expectations for success in the future.

Creating rapid and immediate leadership effectiveness for the CEO and his/her team increases the chances of company success. By using some of these tips and techniques you can help ensure top teamwork and effectiveness.

Accelerating the Improvement of Senior Leadership Effectiveness