Executive leadership teams are the most impactful team in an organization. Unfortunately, they are often the least collaborative team in the organization. The individuals have great talents, but they are usually not as effective as needed as a team.

Most of us have our own experiences of the negatives of this phenomenon. Growing organizations quickly get addicted to the drug of busyness. It is a natural tendency as organizations grow, everyone gets very busy, and each organizational unit gets very focused on their part. The growing apart begins with the executive leadership team. They get focused on their area and become territorial. Their recognition (and compensation) depends upon it. As the parts keep growing apart, the negatives of their separate focus get amplified. The outcome is the departments become siloed. The organization does not work well together.

A simple negative comment by one executive about another executive or part of the organization can ignite a forest fire. The real fix for this is (not just holding your tongue); each executive must have a clear understanding of the other executive’s issues. Other executives’ behaviors may be wrong. Or other executives’ actions or reactions are misunderstood.

Understanding what others are thinking about and how they think is central to building a productive and collaborative executive leadership team. The more executives understand the others’ big issues, the easier it is to put actions, comments, and reactions in the right context. There is no need to attempt to connect at the doing level until the thinking at the executive level is shared and understood.

It only takes a half-hour or so each week (using the right process) to establish clarity about the issues and perspectives of others on the team. It is the principal’s responsibility to make this happen. The executive team needs to engage and adhere to an executive leadership system™. As a first step, the system must help them connect and align their thinking.

Executive leadership must act as a structured and disciplined team. Structure and discipline are most critical during times of high stress or crises. With the onset of COVID 19, we certainly have a crisis affecting everyone. Guiding the organization through this crisis and preparing now for growth in a likely coming recession is essential. Executive leadership teams fix yourselves first, then you will be better equipped to help your operating teams establish their needed structure and discipline.

Organizations can only be great if all dimensions get led and operate at elite levels.