Executive Team Excellence

Co-President of Catapult

Working on a high performing team that is effective and cohesive is a dream of many executives. When asked, many executives have fleeting experiences of such a dream, and once they experienced it, they always want it again. But—it is not easy to get and/or sustain.

In our experience with working with executive teams, it is typically a top objective of CEOs because it is the differentiator to get organizational results while simultaneously making work much more fun and enjoyable. In fact, nearly all the senior executives in a recent Center of Creative Leadership study (97%) agreed that “increased effectiveness of my executive team will have a positive impact on organizational results.”

The story is often the same—CEOs work with the best individual talent, have aggressive growth plans, put an exciting strategy in place, and then get stuck. They often do not know why. The executives from each function often bring experience, expertise, competence, and even aligned values. However, we find the considerable potential of collective intelligence and collaboration goes untapped for a variety of reasons:

Executives struggle to balance running their individual business areas with the ability to work together as a leadership team.
Executives are not clear and have conflicting priorities.
Executives struggle to balance getting projects done while finding the time to build trust and psychological safety.
Meeting time together is not always productive.

Becoming unstuck takes time, commitment, and a new way of working together. To obtain team excellence results, we recommend spending time on the ME, WE, and Common Purpose model.

The Power of Common Purpose

Ensuring the team has a common purpose and shared goals that are well aligned with the organization, the broader ecosystem, and future possibilities.
- What is the work of the executive team?
- How does the team work and meet together?
- What are shared goals and objectives?

The Power of ME

Requiring each executive to be ready, willing, and able to collaborate effectively with executive team.
- Does the executive have self-awareness?
- Does the executive have a growth mindset?
- Does the executive bring humility, energy/motivation, and emotional intelligence to the executive team?

The Power of WE

Ensuring collaborative behaviors to optimize the collective intelligence.
- What are standard and accepted team behaviors?
- What is psychological safety amongst the team?
- How does the team work together and hold each other accountable for results?
- How does the team care for each other?

Catapult’s certified consultants have seen the magic of our Team Excellence engagements galvanize and improve business results with a more effective, collaborative, and engaged team.

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