Good leaders do not automatically make a good executive team

Minna Ikäheimonen
Senior Executive Coach, Rokmind Oy

The executive team's role is not simply for each member to lead their own area of responsibility. Its role is to lead the whole company together with the CEO. Alongside the capabilities of individual leaders, we therefore need to consider how well the executive team succeeds together.

The goals, people and results within each member's own area of responsibility matter to them. At the executive team table, however, the perspective needs to extend beyond these.

The executive team is more than a place to share information, monitor figures and solve day-to-day problems. Its value lies in how well it brings together the owner's objectives, strategic direction, people's capabilities and collective execution to deliver results.

This requires more than strong individuals. It requires a shared understanding of what the executive team is working towards together and what it takes responsibility for.

I would group the executive team's role into three areas.

Creating a shared direction

The executive team needs to understand where the company is heading, why the chosen direction matters and what it requires of each member.

The starting points are the owner's intentions and the company's strategic direction. Cooperation between the board and the executive team should also support a shared understanding of objectives and how to achieve them.

Strategy only makes an impact when it is reflected in everyday choices, priorities and actions. A shared direction therefore means more than everyone knowing the strategy. What matters is how it guides the executive team's decisions and each member's work.

Working as one team

Every member is responsible for the success of the whole company as well as their own area.

Each member's functional perspective is an important part of the team's discussion. Alongside it, however, there needs to be a willingness to assess decisions from the perspective of the whole company.

This requires trust, open discussion and constructive disagreement. It must be possible to raise difficult issues and examine different views together. Working as one team does not mean thinking alike about everything. It means being able to make joint decisions and commit to them.

The question is: do we act as one executive team, or primarily as advocates for our own areas of responsibility?

Turning decisions into results

The executive team must ensure that the most important priorities move forward.

Decisions need clear responsibilities, prioritisation and follow-up. The team also needs the ability to address whatever is preventing the company from achieving its objectives.

Shared success must therefore also be considered beyond meetings. Are decisions reflected in how employees work? Is the strategy progressing? Are the intended results being achieved?

The executive team's work does not end when a decision has been made. Shared responsibility also includes following through on what happens as a result.

Five questions for reviewing your executive team

As a coach, I would bring these five questions into the discussion:

Direction: Do we truly know what we are aiming for and which priorities matter most right now?

Roles: Does everyone have a clear understanding of their own responsibilities and their role in leading the whole company?

Interaction: Do we have the courage to challenge one another, raise difficult issues and make decisions together?

Shared responsibility: Do we act as one executive team, or primarily as advocates for our own areas of responsibility?

Impact: Are our decisions reflected in the company's results, how employees work and the progress of the strategy?

At the heart of these questions is the idea that developing an executive team is about more than strengthening individual leaders' capabilities. The aim is to improve the whole team's ability to succeed together.

That is why it is not enough to ask how good a leader each of us is.

How good an executive team are we – and what must we change to help our company succeed?