Transforming Eight Successful Leaders into a Senior Leadership Team

Integrative Leadership Strategies Provides White Glove Service for Leadership Team Development

A company founder/director realized that his senior leaders were working closely together, but did not identify as a team. He needed to bring them together to work towards a shared ownership model so that one day, he could retire. 

For many years, the company’s commitment to delivering high quality results that delight customers was enough to achieve business success. However, this approach is not the same as working together towards a shared vision. The director wanted to bring his team together in a way that resulted in a true Senior Leadership Team – one that owned the organization’s path forward because they were a part of determining what it would be. 

This client reached out to Liz Myers of Integrative Leadership Strategies for her expertise in developing high performing teams using tools and structure in a clear and authentic way that generates lasting results.

Setting the Foundation for Team Development

At the outset of the project, Liz met with each senior leader. These conversations were for listening, learning, and building individual rapport. What was motivating each team member? What were they concerned about? Were they skeptical of the process, and if so, what did they need to better understand?  

Based on the results of these initial listening sessions, Liz combined leadership training with the active work of developing a long-term vision and building a team charter. This was accomplished through a series of monthly working sessions over the course of a year. 

Each meeting included a team skill-building block where Liz introduced key concepts. These leadership skills were intentionally chosen for their relevance to that session’s business objectives and put immediately to use during the working sessions. 

This approach encouraged the formation of valuable habits and behaviors, so they would become a natural part of working together and leading the organization. The leaders now share frameworks for problem-solving in groups, building trust, and leadership communication skills such as how to engage in successful dialogue and constructive collaboration. 

Developing the Long-Term Vision with a Unified Team

Developing a strong 5-year vision was a process that spanned multiple sessions. Liz intentionally started with a blue-sky brainstorming session around what should go into a 15-year vision. This time horizon was far enough into the future that even the most change-averse team members felt free to voice their ideal future state. 

Over the months that followed, Liz led the team through the work of clarifying discrepancies, as well as organizing and documenting their ideas. They often came into these conversations with different points of view, ultimately reaching alignment through structured team dialogue. Notable examples include:

• An adamant opinion that the company must remain small was revealed to be fear of losing the company culture that was an internal point of pride. 

• An imbalanced workload among the leadership team regarding ad-hoc mentoring. This led to the formalizing of the company’s mentoring program, as well as the first ever team-level open discussion about gender equity issues.

Emotional moments like these were treated tenderly and respectfully, building team cohesion and mutual respect for the diversity in the room.

Collective intelligence was generated in real time, transforming these individual leaders into a strong team. They successfully identified and wrestled with interconnected problems all of which would become core components of their Team Charter, guiding their direction and operations over the next five years.

Building the Team Charter & Governance

Liz helped the team build their own Team Charter template. This included developing language for their company values, strategic business goals, and role definitions, as well as processes for recruiting, onboarding, performance reviews, and promotions.  All of these components were integrated with the 5-year vision. 

The final step was an intensive line-by-line review to ensure that these senior stakeholders understood the documentation the same way and were fully committed to success.

By the time the team was ready to focus on Team Governance, they were already experts. The Integrative Leadership Strategies approach that guided the work of developing the vision and creating the charter had also served as a model for running high-performing meetings – skills that the team could continue leveraging going forward on their own.

One of the final events of the program was a company-wide meeting to present what was accomplished and why it was done – this was really just the beginning for this organization to be led by a competent, collaborative leadership team. This step not only reinforced the client’s cultural values of inclusion, but it also invited employee engagement with the new programs, processes, and most importantly their Senior Leadership Team.

What happened once the Integrative Leadership Strategies program ended?

Eight colleagues and individual leaders were transformed into a true Senior Leadership Team. The company now has task forces to ensure everyone remains accountable to their vision and charter. 

The leadership team is confident in their ability to maintain alignment with each other and to address hard questions through conversation. They meet quarterly to ensure ongoing transparency and tackle emerging business challenges, like equitable promotion tracks and succession planning. 

One leadership team member shared that they feel invincible now. This team is moving forward independently – the ultimate proof of a team development job well done.

If you are looking to improve your leadership skills or those of your team, reach out to Liz Myers at Integrative Leadership Strategies today.