Senior Team Dynamics Impact Leadership Development Effectiveness

Leading well has always been demanding. But right now, with so much uncertainty and pressure on organisations to perform, the stakes feel painfully high. In these times, how do you make sure the best leaders stay, remain engaged and leadership development actually works? 

What we know from research: Research examining leadership dynamics and employee retention found that when senior leadership teams lack cohesion (meaning they’re not operating as a genuinely unified group pulling in the same direction), it can create a working environment that makes leaving feel more appealing than staying. The research shows that strong middle managers can shield their teams from the effects of that environment. But here’s the important part: the toll on them reduces their leadership effectiveness and decreases any benefits gained from leadership development activity. 

My POV: A lot of my work with clients involves partnering with C-suite teams to help them develop their wider leadership teams so they can become more inspiring leaders. It’s an investment that pays off. But that’s only part of the best practice for strengthening leadership capacity. When the most senior team isn’t working cohesively, no amount of wider leadership team development can make up for the ripple effect of that dynamic. That tension unintentionally shapes the day-to-day working environment for everyone else.

Your managers end up spending significant amounts of energy absorbing and buffering what’s filtering down from the top, rather than channelling their energy into inspiring the people around them.  Developing wider leadership capability and strengthening senior team cohesion are not separate exercises. Any gaps in one area will automatically have a negative impact on the other.

As a Leader, what can you do?

• Look at your senior team honestly before expecting more from the wider leadership teams. Ask yourself: are we operating as a genuinely united group? Do we align on priorities, communicate consistently and model the collaboration we’re asking of everyone else? If the answer is ‘not always’, that’s your most important starting point. 
• Name what your wider leadership teams are navigating. If there are tensions at the senior level that are filtering down, your managers already feel it. Rather than leaving them to quietly absorb it, open the conversation with something like, ‘What would make it easier for you to lead your team well right now?’. You may be surprised by what they say. 
• Treat senior team development as a from-good-to-great exercise, not a problem to be solved. Working on how your senior team functions together isn’t a sign that something is broken. The leaders I see getting the most from their organisations treat this as an ongoing practice, something they commit to regularly in their ever-changing environment, rather than only when things go wrong. 

What difference will it make? When you address cohesion in the senior team, something shifts for you as a leader. Decisions feel less fraught. The energy you’ve been spending managing tension and re-aligning people starts to free up. And the investment you’ve already made in developing your wider leadership teams begins to pay back at a much higher rate, because now they’re leading with the wind behind them, not against it. Your people notice, and the best ones stay. 

If it would be useful to chat through this, reach out to us here.