The Senior Team Habit that Matters Under Pressure

Across my work with CEOs and senior leadership teams, I see that organisations that gain ground in this fast-changing environment do so, not just because they have better ideas, but because they have the right habits in place to translate decisions into strategic coordination later.

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.

The research suggests that the intensity of shared problem-solving and strategic coordination translates into stronger company performance. The finding matters most under pressure: when the environment shifts and quick pivots are required, teams that have built the habit of solving problems together move with far greater coherence than those that haven’t.

My POV: What I see with clients is that many senior teams could turn up the dial on genuine problem-solving in the room. The best management teams work through complex problems together, test each other’s thinking and arrive at solutions they would be unlikely to reach alone. When that foundation isn’t there, every strategic shift creates a coordination gap. Don’t mistake a well-run meeting for a well-connected team.

As a Leader, what can you do?

• Designate one agenda item per meeting as a genuine problem-solving conversation. Rather than presenting a challenge and waiting for individual input, try framing it as: ‘I want us to work through this together; here is the challenge.’ This small shift changes the quality of thinking in the room considerably, and over time builds the instinct for coordinated action that you need when the pressure is on.

• Notice when your team is reporting rather than connecting. Updates and check-ins are valuable, but if your senior team meetings are mostly one person speaking at a time, you’re missing the strategic coordination benefits that come from people thinking out loud together. All management meetings should be critical conversations, not a series of updates.

• Show that being prepared doesn’t mean having all the answers. Shared problem-solving only works when people feel comfortable saying ‘I’m not sure’ or ‘I’ve been struggling with this’. When senior leaders model curiosity over certainty, the team develops the collective confidence to embrace and navigate uncertainty together rather than fracturing under it.

What difference will it make? When your senior team genuinely solves problems together, you’ll notice the strategic coordination across the business start to sharpen. This habit equips you for urgent strategic pivots and when the pressure is on. The management team isn’t just aligned on paper, but capable of thinking and acting as one when it matters most.

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