I have worked with at least 30 senior executive teams over the past twenty years, and have conducted over 200 confidential one-on-one interviews with members of these senior teams. I am left with two favourite quotes….the first one, which led to lots of work, and the second one which indicated to me that my work was done with this client. This paper outlines my view of what is critical in the Top Team development journey, to get from the reality of Quote #1 to the reality of Quote #2.
Quote #1 came from a question I had asked. What is the biggest barrier to teamwork on your team?
Greg responded:
We protect each other’s asses too much. Saving face in front of Jim (the CEO) has become the most important value we have. We have grown up together in this organization. Our wives are friends. We have subordinated the work to our superficial relationships. We don’t challenge each other. We don’t ask each other for help. We have an unwritten norm…you stay out of my turf, and I will stay out of yours. We are not a team.
Continue reading Senior Executive Teams: Leading in Complex, Fast Environments (pdf)
