The 4 Pillars of High-Performing Executive Teams
Leaders often come to me for coaching support because their team is not performing as they would like. They’ve tried everything they could think of to boost their team’s performance, and they don’t know what else to do. Immediately, my ears perk up—because a low-performing team is a common symptom of a problem I call “leadership shock.”
Leadership shock is a state of overwhelm often experienced by leaders in a new role, or a leader whose context is changing. The leadership principles and behaviors that brought past success suddenly stop working, leaving even the most seasoned leaders feeling ineffective. With overflowing calendars and to-do lists, they find themselves in a state of shock. A leader who is experiencing leadership shock cannot have a high-performing team.
So when a leader calls me to discuss the problem of their team, I will do an assessment, talk to all the team members, and then turn it around and explain to them (gently!) that their team is not the problem. It’s actually their leadership that’s not effective for the team. Often, when I dig into it, I uncover leadership shock. The leader’s experience of shock is transferred onto the team, sending them into a state of overwhelm as well.
In a situation like this, I’ll first work with the leader to get them out of shock by making space on their calendar and having them define their Authentic Leadership Model. Then, we work to get the team out of shock. I use a high-performance team model that I developed in my time as an elite rugby coach and then tailored to business leaders. These four elements set high-performing teams apart:
Strategy
High-performing teams are aligned on a common strategy. More broadly, they have a well-defined purpose. They know WHY the team exists and what they’re trying to achieve. I often see that on executive teams, everyone knows their own functional strategy, but there is not a coherent team strategy that all members align to.
2. Roles and Responsibilities
This brings us to the next key element of high-performance teams: team members know what their individual roles and responsibilities are. This is one of the most critical pieces. In many executive teams, there are job descriptions, but not role definitions.
Ambiguous role definition leads to conflict. No one is quite sure who has decision rights. This lack of clarity turns decision-making into a political fight between team members. When the decision-making right is clear, the person who “owns” that role becomes much more open to discussing it and getting feedback from others. Clarity is key.
3. Structures and Processes
This element is linked directly to getting teams out of leadership shock by assessing how they work together. What is the cadence of team meetings? What is the purpose of each of those meetings? How does the team leverage technology to communicate? How does the team deal with disagreements? How do they hold each other accountable?
Too often, team structures and processes are not set intentionally. The meetings exist, but no one is quite sure why. This lack of intention not only fills up team members’ valuable time, but creates problems and inefficiencies. From meetings to vision, intentional processes are key.
4. Culture
The final piece is culture. How does the team work and engage with one another? How strong are their relationships? A healthy culture is built on trust, respect, and shared values.
Note: This element is absolutely a requirement, but insufficient on its own. Many leadership consultants focus solely on individual assessments to help teammates better understand each other. While relationship-building and creating a positive culture is an important element in increasing a team’s performance, it’s only one piece of the puzzle.
I encourage you to reflect on whether these four pillars are present in your team. If not, consider where you can make slight adjustments. Doing so will send your team on its way to high performance.
Pete Steinberg is an elite rugby coach, leadership consultant, and author. He can help you and your organization overcome challenges and achieve unparalleled success. Pete’s first book, “Leadership Shock,” will be published in April 2024. You can connect with Pete on LinkedIn and at PeteSteinberg.com.