Being part of the CEO’s team, whether in the C-suite or as an executive who is one of the CEO’s direct reports, feels like an honor. You report to the top person and are part of the decision-making group that drives company strategy. Unfortunately, the reality is often more work, stress, little support, and a dysfunctional team dynamic.
If you’re a CEO or part of a CEO’s team, and this sounds familiar, there is a way to improve the situation. A recent article from Spencer Stuart looks at the benefits of aligning to a common purpose to support the balance of day-to-day work and strategic business oversight and improve overall performance.
According to the piece, “In our work with teams, and in our review of hundreds of case studies, it is clear how often the top team’s purpose becomes confounded with the CEO’s goals for the business — increasing sales or efficiency, cutting costs or expanding into new markets. On one level, this makes sense: the leadership team, of course, has a role to play in enabling those goals. However, the team’s unique purpose is different.”
Undoubtedly, the CEO is responsible for leading the business objectives and goals of the organization. Still, the team should be focused on optimizing the company’s capacity to deliver results. To do this successfully, the team must think long-term, look at innovative new approaches, and set ambitious goals. They must also be pragmatic and disciplined in allocating time and resources.
Theoretically, the need to balance goals and objectives with resource constraints is obvious. In practice, making the trade-offs necessary can be difficult. In their work with CEOs, Spencer Stuart has found, “In most teams, individual leaders oversee their specific business units and functional areas, they look to the CEO to make all the decisions, and the team comes together to report on status. This is a form of “upwardly delegating.”” They provided information from the CEOs they interviewed.
Setting the pace
To do this, CEO teams must be deliberate about finding time to step away from their day-to-day work and assess what is happening more broadly, internally, and externally. The only way to evolve is to see the bigger picture and determine how to move forward in a timely manner. This is an ongoing expectation and should be part of a weekly schedule. It requires practice to know what is meaningful and what is hype to keep the business poised for growth.
Prioritizing and making trade-offs
Being part of the CEO’s team is exciting as there are a lot of innovative ideas and possible options. But getting caught up in the moment can confuse what to pursue and create frustration without clarity. The hard part of being on the team is determining what can be done and what needs to be tabled. This requires a healthy debate, staying focused on north star metrics, and aligning on initiatives. It also means you have to be honest, disciplined, and consistent.
Embracing their unique purpose
Good CEOs expect their teams to come up with various perspectives that benefit the company, not “yes people” waiting to be told what to do. CEOs rely on their teams to bring different ideas to the table. As one CEO put it, “I like to think it’s a collective feeling around enablement and leadership. That’s the prime directive here. The thing that we can do that no one else can do is drive the strategy in the business. The decisions around that, the planning around that, the infrastructure around that, that’s what this group does.”
If you’re already on the CEO’s team or hoping to be on the team at some point, remember the Spider Man quote, “with great power comes great responsibility”. Yes, you will be privy to a lot of proprietary information. Still, you will also be expected to provide insight and demonstrate acumen that you are adding value to the organization and setting it up for future success.
If you’re hiring for your CEO’s team and have questions, reach out to our executive recruiters.