The Harder Things Get, the More This Leadership System Matters 

Right now, with uncertainty at levels most of us haven’t seen before, the pressure to make the right strategic calls has never been higher. New research suggests the key differentiator may be the relationship between the board and the exec team, not just the relationships within them.

What we know from research: A recent study on senior leadership teams found that the way leaders solve problems together has a direct bearing on how well strategy gets executed. When management teams grapple with challenges as a group rather than making decisions in parallel silos, coordination across the business improves significantly.

What we know from research: A study of 375 senior leaders across 47 firms found that when the board of directors and the executive team operate as one interconnected group – what researchers call the Strategic Leadership System – the quality of strategic decision-making improves significantly. Even more striking is that this effect gets stronger as the competitive environment becomes more complex and demanding. The more pressure your organisation is under, the more it matters that these two groups are meaningfully connected.

My POV: What I see a lot of organisations doing is treating the board and the executive team as two separate worlds: one that governs and one that runs the business. And I understand why. That’s how most governance structures are designed. When those two groups are sharing information openly, thinking through big decisions together, and genuinely owning outcomes collectively, the decisions that come out on the other side are sharper, faster and better.

Formal governance is vital, yet it doesn’t mean you’re fully separated on every point; it doesn’t demand a lack of collaboration. Don’t mistake formal governance processes for real integration. Attending the same meetings is not the same as having a strategic leadership system.

As a Leader, what can you do?

• Think of your board and executive team as a Strategic Leadership System. This is a mindset shift before it’s anything else. When you start treating these two groups as interconnected rather than two separate entities, you’ll begin to notice any gaps in information, trust and decision-making ownership.
• When appointing board members, add collaborative capability to your criteria. Experience and expertise matter enormously and are the foundation of a strong board. But what this research highlights is that collaborative capability matters just as much. A board member who can think alongside your executive team, share information openly, and genuinely engage in joint decision-making, is invaluable. Ask yourself: can this person work with us, not just advise us?
• Get clear on when your board and executive team work separately and when they work together. Integration doesn’t mean everyone is involved in everything. Your board still monitors and governs; your exec team still runs the business day to day. What makes the difference is being deliberate about the decisions that genuinely belong to both groups. A useful question to bring to your next board conversation: ‘Which of the decisions we’re facing right now would benefit from us thinking it through together with the management team?’ Equally, in management meetings, consider when it would be useful to seek board member input.

What difference will it make? When your board and executive team operate as a genuine Strategic Leadership System, you’ll feel more confident walking into your most complex decisions. Instead of managing two separate groups with different information and different agendas, you’ll have strategic leadership alignment. That’s less friction for you, stronger decisions for the organisation, and leadership capacity that can genuinely handle what the market throws at it.

If you’d like to explore how to strengthen the collaboration between your board and executive team, we’d love to talk, schedule a call here.