Why your first priority is to your team of peers, not the individuals you lead
Leaders are members of two teams: the company’s senior leadership, and the functional people they manage. Yet which team they prioritize can be the difference between organizational success and individual friction.
Most executives tend to focus on the team that they lead, putting first the needs of their department. When these leaders interact with their executive peers, they will often act as a lobbyist of sorts, requesting resources, policies, and solutions based on what’s important to their people. When it comes time for the group to make decisions, this way of working often leads to each executive advocating for their own “constituents,” sometimes at the expense of another department. This can lead to infighting and resentment among the members, and gridlock can stop progress in its tracks. Individuals naturally behave the way the organization incentivizes, and since bosses are often evaluated by the success of their department, it’s a completely understandable dynamic.
Yet in order to make real change, companies must motivate leaders to work together, encouraging them to make the executive team - their peers - their first concern. Patrick Lencioni calls this the “First Team.” By putting cooperation with these colleagues first, leaders are better able to take on a larger strategic role for the organization. Ideally, the group acts as a support system for each other, secure in the knowledge that what is best for the organization is also what is best for their individual teams. This behavior trickles down to lower-level departments, creating a more positive work culture as a whole. The executives strengthen leadership at the top, focusing on the decisions and work that only the executive team can do.
What happens when the executive team comes second?
When the leadership team isn’t unified, it’s easy for things to fall apart.
My client, let’s call her Brooke, is CMO of a financial services company and struggling to get the resources her team needs to be successful. She has been going back and forth ad nauseam for the past year with her peers on the executive team, trying to get her Distribution counterpart to engage her team as a valued thought partner (versus an order-taker of the sales team), and the IT leader to share the data her team requires to create compelling marketing to drive awareness and demand. However, despite a recent “first team” training with her counterparts, Brooke feels like she’s getting nowhere (and continues to let her functional team down). For the first time in almost two years, Brooke is thinking of leaving the organization. This would be a major blow to the firm, and I imagine the CEO has no idea she feels this way.
To ease her frustration and create a new dynamic, Brooke may consider looking outside her role as the functional leader of marketing and consider the executive team as her "primary team." This will enable her to assess the trade-offs and compromises that need to be made in order for all departments to succeed. What needs to be done to make the team (and organization) most effective? From this perspective, she can consider what steps to take, and if additional resources for marketing are what's needed.
Ask yourself: What actions do you take to put your “team of peers” first? What would shift for you if you made a greater effort to recognize your peer teams’ priorities and constraints?
Testing your leadership team’s efficacy
Brooke’s experience isn’t uncommon; most leadership teams have room for improvement, especially when it comes to creating a “real team” of people who work interdependently for a common purpose or goal. If you suspect that your organization is suffering from the same issue, the Team Diagnostic Survey (TDS) is an effective resource. It will reveal how executive leadership is measuring up against the 6 conditions of a highly effective team, helping you to uncover the causes of your disconnect. Not all senior leaders are able to see when this dysfunction is happening, and the TDS can be an effective way to bring it to their attention.
When it comes to a lack of group unity, the root often lies in how they work within a Supportive Organizational Context; whether the company’s structures and systems enable or undermine teamwork. The context has four components:
Rewards and Recognition: does the organization recognize and celebrate how the executive team works together - not just individual performance?
Information: does everyone have the necessary data to perform their function well?
Education/Consultation: when teams encounter new problems or need to improve their teamwork, is training and technical consultation readily available?
Material Resources: are technology, resources, or people available when departments need it?
Effective teamwork is an uphill battle without these components, and those difficulties spread to departmental groups as well. After all, it’s not easy to work together when you’re fighting for what you need.
Ask yourself: What processes are in place to support the effectiveness of your senior leadership team? What resources could further the team’s efforts?
Supporting each other
An essential part of the Rewards and Recognition component of the Supportive Organizational Context is the encouragement of peer support. Companies with a strong culture saw a 72.9% higher operating income than their peer companies with weaker cultures; a strong case for a collaborative leadership team. Supportive cooperation between leaders can be challenging due to traditional hierarchies and competition for resources, but learning to hold each other up is essential for a first team mindset. Here are a few ways to start:
Identify your shared goals, and work toward them together.
Foster a culture of horizontal accountability, in which peers are encouraged to hold each other accountable to deliver on the joint plan and accept being held accountable themselves.
Approach conflicts calmly, even when you are personally involved.
Engage in open dialogue, maintain respectful communication at all times, and listen with empathy.
Ask yourself: What actions am I taking to support my peers? What could I do to create greater consideration of their needs alongside my own?
Shifting your focus to your colleagues will result in a stronger working and personal relationships. While the emphasis is on results, the mindset will lead to more open communication, better definitions of responsibility, and ultimately, a stronger core focus on company results. The goal of any company is to be successful, and refined, focused primary team relationships will have far-reaching effects throughout your business.
“The way to achieve your own success is to be willing to help somebody else get it first.” – Iyanla Vanzant