An organisation's fate hinges on its CEO - right? Not according to the authors of "Senior Leadership Teams". They argue that in today's world of neck-snapping change, demands on leaders in top roles are rapidly outdistancing the capabilities of any one person - no matter how talented. Result? Chief executives are turning to their enterprise's senior leaders for help. Yet many CEOs stumble when creatinga leadership team. One major challenge is that senior executives often focus more on their individual roles than on the top team's shared work. Without the CEO's careful attention to setting the team up correctly, these high-powered managers often have difficulty pulling together to move their organisation forward. Sometimes they don't even agree about what constitutes the right path forward.The authors explain how to determine whether your organisation needs a senior leadership team. Then, drawing on their study of 100+ top teams from around the world, they explain how to create a clear and compelling purpose for your team, get the right people on it, provide structure and support, and sharpen team members' competencies - and your own. Timely and practical, this book enables you to create and sustain a leadership team whose members learn from one another while collaborating to pursue your company's objectives.
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About the Author
Ruth Wageman is Edgar Pierce Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at Harvard University and Director of Research for Hay Group. Debra Nunes and James Burruss are Vice Presidents at Hay Group's McClelland Institute for Research and Innovation. J. Richard Hackman is Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at Harvard University.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Written for leaders (and also coaches) of executive level teams, Senior Leadership Teams presents a framework of three essentials (a real team, a compelling purpose, the right people) and three enablers (structure, support, coaching) for developing a great senior team.
Drawing from their research with 120 top teams and their collective consulting experience, the authors present numerous real-life examples and tools (questions and checklists) for developing these key elements and provide practical guidelines for using these elements as the basis for on-going coaching. The suggestions and processes for developing a compelling purpose and senior leadership team norms are especially useful in this regard.
Additionally, the authors provide helpful (and motivating) advice for getting the right people on your team and the wrong people off. They demonstrate the criticality of such team member competencies as empathy and integrity if you are developing a team that is prepared to engage in the candid dialogue and tough debate that is required for enterprise-affecting decision-making. Also helpful are the guidelines for identifying and dealing with team derailers and the suggestions for on-boarding new senior leadership team members.
Drawing from their research with 120 top teams and their collective consulting experience, the authors present numerous real-life examples and tools (questions and checklists) for developing these key elements and provide practical guidelines for using these elements as the basis for on-going coaching. The suggestions and processes for developing a compelling purpose and senior leadership team norms are especially useful in this regard.
Additionally, the authors provide helpful (and motivating) advice for getting the right people on your team and the wrong people off. They demonstrate the criticality of such team member competencies as empathy and integrity if you are developing a team that is prepared to engage in the candid dialogue and tough debate that is required for enterprise-affecting decision-making. Also helpful are the guidelines for identifying and dealing with team derailers and the suggestions for on-boarding new senior leadership team members.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Do we need another book on teams? This one is just a enough different from the rest to make a significant contribution.
The focus of this book is senior executives as a team. These highly skilled individuals have the dual responsibilities of managing their departments and the enterprise as a whole. The management function of senior executive teams often feel like a distraction from their "real work". Yet, senior executive teams can provide a key function that every organization desperately needs - leadership. Senior-level leadership is needed for high level strategy, cross-functional initiatives, building organizational capacity, capital acquisition, and enabling mission-critical performance.
The four authors (two consultants and two academics) studied 120 senior executive teams to find out what made the difference between great senior teams and poor senior teams. They discovered six things. Three are essentials, no surprises here, concerning the design of the team: 1) They are real teams; 2) They have a compelling purpose; and 3) The right people are on the the team. The chapters on each essential are insightful for the specific context - senior teams. Executives will find the examples and specific recommendations helpful because of they are not generalized for all teams, but only senior teams.
Senior leaders, the authors found, often do not have the necessary skills and experience in establishing the working conditions of an effective team. Teams will not automatically be high performing because of the individual abilities of the team members. Three enablers are: 1) Team structure; 2) a support context; and 3) Team coaching. The key is developing how the team works together. Teams require different processes, skills, and growth in their abilities to collaborate together effectively.
With practical help and its specific context, Senior Leadership Teams, is well worth the read for both executives and coaches.
The focus of this book is senior executives as a team. These highly skilled individuals have the dual responsibilities of managing their departments and the enterprise as a whole. The management function of senior executive teams often feel like a distraction from their "real work". Yet, senior executive teams can provide a key function that every organization desperately needs - leadership. Senior-level leadership is needed for high level strategy, cross-functional initiatives, building organizational capacity, capital acquisition, and enabling mission-critical performance.
The four authors (two consultants and two academics) studied 120 senior executive teams to find out what made the difference between great senior teams and poor senior teams. They discovered six things. Three are essentials, no surprises here, concerning the design of the team: 1) They are real teams; 2) They have a compelling purpose; and 3) The right people are on the the team. The chapters on each essential are insightful for the specific context - senior teams. Executives will find the examples and specific recommendations helpful because of they are not generalized for all teams, but only senior teams.
Senior leaders, the authors found, often do not have the necessary skills and experience in establishing the working conditions of an effective team. Teams will not automatically be high performing because of the individual abilities of the team members. Three enablers are: 1) Team structure; 2) a support context; and 3) Team coaching. The key is developing how the team works together. Teams require different processes, skills, and growth in their abilities to collaborate together effectively.
With practical help and its specific context, Senior Leadership Teams, is well worth the read for both executives and coaches.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
On the surface, you wouldn't think that assembling a functional senior leadership team would pose a significant problem to the typical CEO. After all, senior leaders are an organization's best and brightest. They've progressed through the ranks, demonstrated their abilities, and proven that they get along well with their colleagues and the people who work for them. So why are so many senior leadership teams unproductive? Why do most executives regard an invitation to join a CEO's lead team as a punishment instead of a great opportunity? You could fill a book with all the reasons, which is exactly what Ruth Wageman, Debra A. Nunes, James A. Burruss and J. Richard Hackman have done. The authors dissect and examine every aspect of this vital issue, and offer sensible advice and answers. Follow their lead and don't squander a golden opportunity to help your organization. getAbstract believes this book is highly useful reading for all CEOs and senior executives.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great read for setting up or improving your Senior Leadership Team
I have just set up a new Senior Leadership Group and this book has been very helpful in getting the structure and group norms right from the start. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Karen Conte
5.0 out of 5 stars
Evidence-based guide to making a great senior leadership team
This is an excellent book for providing some science around what is often seen as an art - helping build a great senior leadership team. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Peasleigh
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book for Senior Team Building
I have read many books on building teams. This is one of the most profound. Finding a book that targets senior leadership teams is particularly difficult. Read more
Published on August 23, 2009 by John L. Miller PhD
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling and Relevant
As a corporate director of human resources I was very pleased with the theme and advice given in this book. Read more
Published on July 4, 2009 by Michael Gooch
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must read for people building senior teams with purpose
This is a great book. It took me a long time to read it because I kept referring it to my own team's performance and setup and I used it extensively to rate myself and my teams... Read more
Published on January 28, 2009 by Joesbox
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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