Customer Reviews

Senior Leadership Teams: What It Takes to Make Them Great (Center for Public Leadership)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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. This book, however, focuses on the most salient issues that senior teams face. I think the concepts of mutual interdependence and compelling purpose were the most useful. It is often misunderstood - but not all teams need to function as highly integrated units on all issues. Senior leaders do, however, need to understand their reliance on one another for the critical issues that require outstanding teamwork. I think this book crystallizes the distinction for the reader.

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.

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 performance. The 6 conditions are spot-on from my experience and it was great to have this backed by extensive research at many companies.

Readers with high emotional intelligence will love reading this. Alternatively, CEO's or senior leaders who's senior team either isn't working or is lacking focus/direction in team meetings will find this a great resource. The best management book I have read in many years (top 5 for me).

This is an excellent book for providing some science around what is often seen as an art - helping build a great senior leadership team. There are a few things in particular I liked about it. First, the overall framework is compelling, and from my personal experience with senior leadership teams, robust. Second, it is also not too formulaic - there are enough questions for consideration and suggested differences in sequencing of activities. Third, just about everything links back to purpose ("compelling direction") and they provide guidelines on how to develop that team purpose. Fourth, there are many case study vignettes of the right length and level of detail. Finally, there is substantial material on the role of the CEO - in fact, the book is written 'to' the CEO, although can be used by CEOs, other executives or consultants.

It is helpful that there is a team development survey (not in the book, but through their website), which can provide an objective factbase when starting team development discussions.

My only criticism is that the book is too long. It just feels like there is a lot of repetition, and the book could easily have been more succintly written... perhaps a third shorter.

As a corporate director of human resources I was very pleased with the theme and advice given in this book. Following the examples postulated in Good to Great, the authors found and validated an organization not hinging its fate hinges its CEO.

The new global economy and today's widely pendulant swings in fashion, taste and political ideologies, a organization that wishes to be in the race for the long term must be nimble and have the (rare) ability to make the right decisions at the right time.

The creation of a senior leadership team is basically a no-brainer. But as the book stresses, the actual foundation and construction must be carefully considered. As a member of management since the 1970's I can attest that a large portion of these so-called teams fail due to faulty construction and ego issues.

The study of 100+ top teams from around the world does the heavy lifting for us providing a recipe that is clear and compelling for our teams. The segments on sharpening team members' competencies should not be overlooked. In my humble view, this is critical.

As a side note, I would require each new team member to read Jerry Spence's book How to Argue & Win Every Time: At Home, At Work, In Court, Everywhere, Everyday and Win and also Phil Jackson's old tome Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior. Both are fantastic books containing many nuggets of teamwork wisdom.

Compelling and relevant, this book will greatly assist you in your goal of creating and maintaining a leadership team that will play a giant role in reaching your company's objectives.

I hope you find this review helpful.

Michael L. Gooch