The SHIFTPOINTS Blog

In theory, every executive team is a team.

But in reality, most executive teams struggle with the discipline of teamwork.

There are many reasons for this. Executive teams have unique dynamics that make them unlike any other team in the organization. (More on this in the weeks to come.) Most function like a golf team, where everyone is playing their own individual game.

In contrast, high-performance executive teams operate more like a basketball team. They have a high degree of interdependency. They model unselfishness and demonstrate a “we before me” attitude.

You don’t develop this kind of teamwork by sitting in a conference room presenting PowerPoint slides to each other. You must spend time as a team working together to solve your company’s most pressing problems. You must also take time celebrate your company’s biggest victories.

A few Check Points for your consideration:

• Does your executive team have a strong foundation of trust?
• How much of executive compensation is based on overall corporate performance?
• Are you tolerating any executive behaviors that undermine teamwork?
  
  

develops high-performance executive teams - because you can't win without one.

Every executive performs.

But most executive teams have at least one member who is not meeting expectations.

In contrast, high-performance executive teams optimize the performance of every member of the team.

This starts with high – and continuously elevating – expectations of performance. High-performance executive teams are constantly raising the bar.

They set high targets and challenge each other to get better.

Thus, every executive must commit to both individual excellence and continuous improvement. (I’m astonished by how many reach the executive level and then stop growing and learning.)

In addition, as companies grow and evolve, the executive team must also grow and evolve to embody the discipline of excellence. 

Sports teams are great examples of the relentless quest for excellence. They trade for players who can upgrade the team. They are constantly evaluating performance. Raising the bar is just part of the process.

Here are a few Check Points for your consideration:

• Is every executive on the team really performing up to your standards?
• Does your executive team have a culture of challenging each other to “raise the bar?”
• What are you doing to help each executive develop their professional skills?

SHIFTPOINTS^® develops high-performance executive teams - because you can't win without one.

GMC Trucks has a slogan, “We are professional grade.”  (A great brand position, by the way.)

High-performance organizations are led by people who are “executive grade.” 

These executives demonstrate a rare mix of skills, abilities, and behaviors.  Here are some of the most important ones:

1. Executive-grade results.  First and foremost, executives deliver executive-grade results.  They sign up for “the big number” and then build organizations to deliver it.  They earn the organization’s respect … not because of their position, but because of their results.

2. Executive-grade strategic thinking.  It has been said that, “leaders are readers.”  Executive-grade strategic thinking is driven by continuous learning, reading, seminars, etc.  The best executives are humble enough to know that they don’t know everything … and that humility fuels their quest for knowledge.

3. Executive-grade perspective.  Executives have a breadth of perspective that extends beyond their departmental responsibility.  They understand the interdependencies of all elements of the organization, and understand that the needs of the organization supersede the needs of their own department.

4. Executive-grade expertise.  Executives have functional expertise developed at the highest level.  They are truly one of the best-in-the-world at their function.  This deep expertise allows them to recruit top talent for their departments … because the best want to work for the best.

5. Executive-grade communications.  Executives are polished communicators.  They know what to say, and how to say it.  They have a mastery of language which allows them to paint compelling word-pictures to inspire followers to charge the hill. 

6. Executive-grade energy.  Being an executive is not a 40 hour / week job.  Executives must set the example, working long and hard.  They must attend social functions on nights and weekends.  They travel, often extensively.  Therefore, they must have high energy levels and a “big tank.”

7. Executive-grade decorum.  Executives realize that they are always “on-stage.”  Therefore, they conduct themselves with decorum.  They dress appropriately.  They use appropriate language.  They only discuss things that are appropriate … with the appropriate people. 

8. Executive-grade networking.  Executives build relationships with other senior executives.  They have a unique ability to connect and leverage those connections to create value for their organizations.  This deep, executive-grade rolodex is one of their greatest assets.

9. Executive-grade decision making.  Executives are forced to make tough decisions.  In fact, if the decision is easy, it probably should have been made by someone lower in the organization.  To make the tough decisions, executives apply wisdom to gather information, evaluate the options, and make the call.

10. Executive-grade development.  Executives must be developers of people.  They must have an innate ability to spot talent and potential in others, and then invest themselves in helping people develop to the maximum of their potential.  Often, they see developing people as their greatest achievement.

To win, your organization must develop leaders who are truly “executive grade.”

The Develop One Team module is a key component of many Pit Stop Programs.

Every team has people. 
 
But most executive teams struggle to get the right people in the right roles.

Previously we stated that clarity of purpose is a prerequisite to building a high-performance executive team. 
 
Once the purpose is clear, you must apply The Discipline of Design.  Answering a few questions can accelerate the process:

• What are the skills, strengths, and experiences required to accomplish your executive team’s unique purpose?
• What are the skills, strengths, and experiences of the existing executive team?  What are your gaps? How can you close them?
• What roles are required?  Which executives are best positioned to fill those roles? (Note: these roles do not have to be linked to the executive’s title.  For example, if the CFO is the person with the most experience with employee engagement, perhaps they should lead that initiative, not the VP of HR.)

Of course, there are many other questions that impact the design of the executive team.  The key point is that great executive teams don’t just happen.  They are designed.

READ MORE: DEVELOP ONE TEAM

Every team has a purpose. 
 
But most executive teams have never taken the time to clarify what theirs is.

In contrast, high-performance executive teams have a clear – and unique – sense of the discipline of purpose.
 
This seems like it should be obvious, but there are many different kinds of executive teams.  In the same way that each company should have a unique purpose, the executive team running that company should have a unique purpose as well.  (A church’s executive team has a very different purpose than a construction company’s executive team.)
 
To clarify your executive team’s unique purpose, consider three factors: decisions, outputs, and outcomes.
 
Decisions are the unique things that your executives decide as a team.  (Like approve bonuses.)  In some companies, this list is actually quite small, since most of the decisions are made by individual executives without bringing the issue to the entire executive team.
 
Outputs are the unique deliverables produced by your executives as a team.  These include things like corporate strategy documents, annual budgets, or organizational goals. 
 
Outcomes are the unique results that your executive team is responsible for as a team.  These include things like financial results or employee engagement.

Once you know your executive team’s unique purpose, you can design the team to accomplish it.

SHIFTPOINTS^® helps companies unleash the accelerating power of alignment.  Because alignment is the ultimate competitive advantage.

Every company has a vision.

But most of them are pretty blurry.

Only 35 percent of adults have 20/20 vision, and an even smaller percentage of companies do.

Most companies suffer from some sort of vision disorder, such as myopia—where they can’t focus on the long-term, or tunnel vision—where they get blindsided by market shifts and discontinuities.

Worse yet, according to Achievers’ 2015 North America Workforce report, a whopping 60 percent of employees did not know their company’s vision.

Fast-lane companies create alignment by having just One Vision. After all, how can you create One Company when every division has a different vision?

While it is critical to have One Vision, there are many ways to articulate one. In fact, we discovered four common ways:

• The “visionary” vision
• The “inspiring” vision
• The “company ambition” vision
• The “Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG)” vision

In fast-lane companies, the process of defining the vision is as important as the vision itself. They use a collaborative process that combines top-down aspirations with bottom-up forecasts.

Assumptions are debated. Competitors are studied. Trends are extrapolated.

Of course, smart companies do a gut check before launching the vision. They understand what it will really take to turn the vision into reality. They have “counted the costs.”

There is nothing more demoralizing to a company than a unilateral, top-down vision that is more of a delusional pipe-dream than a vision.

And finally, high-performers make the case for the vision. Every executive—not just the CEO—can passionately articulate the vision and can explain why this is your vision.

Of all the visions you could have chosen, why did you select this One? If you can’t answer that question, no one will buy in.

Our Pit Stop Program provides a timely and efficient way to reconsider these questions.  Find out more.

Note:  This is an excerpt from my latest book,Drive One Direction: How to Unleash the Accelerating Power of Alignment. In the One Vision chapter, we highlight companies who unleashed the accelerating power of alignment with an intense focus on One Vision.

Note: This is an excerpt from Dave Ramos' latest book, Drive One Direction.

In his landmark book, Good to Great, Jim Collins introduced the concept of “first who, then what.”

So, let’s start by clarifying your “who.”

We believe that your corporate executive team is ultimately responsible for creating alignment. Therefore, Step One is for them to accept that responsibility.

This starts with your CEO. Your CEO must operate as the company’s Chief Alignment Officer.

Randy Papadellis, the former CEO of the cranberry cooperative Ocean Spray, referred to himself as the “Chief Alignment Officer.” Papadellis joined Ocean Spray in July 2000 as the Chief Operating Officer and was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in 2002. Here is how he described the transition,

“I believe the biggest difference between being CEO and COO is the job of alignment. When I became CEO, I realized very quickly that it was my responsibility to take the many constituencies we have in our business—our grower owners, our Board of Directors, our key suppliers, our key customers, or most importantly our employees—and make sure that they were aligned and moving in the same direction.”

Aligned and moving in the same direction! My sentiments exactly.

Second, the entire corporate executive team must embrace alignment as a critical corporate initiative. There are several reasons for this:

• The corporate executive team is ultimately responsible for aligning the company’s multiple divisions, departments, functions, and geographies.
• The corporate executive team is ultimately responsible for aligning the interests of the company’s multiple stakeholders, including investors, creditors, employees, boards, vendors, customers, governments, the communities where you operate, and more. These stakeholders often have competing interests which must be aligned.
• The corporate executive team is ultimately responsible for aligning the company’s multiple strategies, tactics, goals, priorities, and initiatives into a coherent corporate strategic plan (One Plan).
• The corporate executive team is ultimately responsible for aligning the company’s resources— both human and financial—with the corporate strategy. Budgets must be allocated. Headcounts must be approved. 
• Each corporate executive has the responsibility to align their functional area. The Chief Financial Officer must consolidate the budgets. The Chief Marketing Officer must integrate the marketing plans. The Chief Sales Officer must roll up the sales forecasts. 
• Finally, the corporate team “sets the bar” for alignment. If they are not aligned as One Team, the rest of the organization will be dysfunctional. They must be role models for alignment. A misaligned executive team will never create an aligned company.

Let me say that again. A misaligned executive team will never create an aligned company.