Leadership is not static; it evolves. The need to reinvent your leadership team is not a sign of failure, but an opportunity for growth. Embrace the journey of transformation and discover the potential that lies within your team.
As companies strive to build competitive advantage in a world obsessed with digitizing, they find that what they need from their leaders is changing
Their top people must be able to reimagine the company’s place in the world and transform the organization to live up to a more ambitious purpose
- This will mean fundamental change not only in the executives themselves but also in how they collectively manage and lead the firm.
- Addressing a company’s leadership gaps is not merely a matter of building individual executives’ skills. It is clear that if companies are to thrive in the years ahead, they must build new forms of advantage rather than just digitize what they are doing today.
Focus Your Team on Driving Transformation
It is more important than ever for your leadership team to be very deliberate about how it sets its agenda. It must make sure it drives transformation, rather than letting the agenda be driven by requests coming from below.
- The role of the leadership team does not stop with making big choices; senior executives must also see that their decisions are successfully implemented.
Take Ownership of Your Team’s Behavior
Your goal should be to have everyone in the executive suite aligned around an understanding of why your company must change
- All your team members have to wholeheartedly own the transformation program and see their personal objectives and agendas tied to its success
- Create a shared purpose: Why does your team exist? What big issues is it here to solve?
- Lead the company through its transformation
- Establish that when the executive team gathers, it is not to approve or reject proposals but to create value together
- Encourage everyone to put issues on the table and solve problems together
Identify the Roles You Need
The roles you choose to have on your leadership team send a message about the strategic destination you’ve chosen and how you are transforming to get there.
- Getting to a capabilities-based leadership model does not have to be done in one shot via a major reorganization.
Surround yourself with talented people who can balance seemingly paradoxical leadership behaviors and challenge one another to collectively accomplish big things
Make sure your leadership team truly leads-setting aside time and energy to define a bold agenda and launch the ambitious initiatives that your future relies on.
- Succeed and you will have a powerful team that can position your firm to thrive in an increasingly complex world.
Assemble Your Team Thoughtfully
Having the right roles on your top team isn’t enough. You must also fill the positions with the right people
- Seek people who look, think, feel, and act differently than is customary in your organization, and you should be open to-and encourage-being challenged
- The people who can steer your company’s future do not have to be cut from the same cloth as traditional leaders with MBAs or engineering degrees
- Look for people with varied experiences, who have worked within different ecosystems and understand the capabilities, technologies, channels, and transformational approaches you will be deploying
