The Connected C-Suite

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If you’re new here - Hi, I’m Suzy!?

I am a Coach for C-suite Leaders and a B2B Sales, Leadership Trainer/Consultant.?

My approach blends coaching and real-world work experiences to create tailored coaching and workshops on personal confidence, leadership, team development and sales. Oh and I am a LEGO? Serious Play? Practitioner too!

I am going to be sending regular updates about hints, tips and tricks in these areas so make sure you are subscribed to find out more helpful insights and tools!?

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The Connected C-Suite

We can often think of C-suite teams as collections of individual high performers, each leader bringing significant expertise to their functional area. However, this is only one part of the success formula. The magic of a truly successful executive or any team actually, lies not just in individual brilliance but in how these leaders and individuals work together. When a C-suite team invests in building and sustaining authentic, connected relationships with each other, they create a powerful ripple effect throughout the organisation. Positively impacting culture as well as business outcomes.?

In short, great relationships at the top create great organisations. Yet, in the team support work that I do, I experience executive teams who underestimate just how critical those relationships are with each other. Often the reason for this is a natural focus on structure, strategy, and revenue/profit results. These are important outcomes however it's also key to not overlook relationships with each other and continue to work and develop these. When this slides away as a priority, staff engagement and delivery of those critical business outcomes suffer.?

So, here are my tips for how to continue to enhance connectivity at the top:

?1. Regular Unstructured Roundtables:

?Create monthly or quarterly informal sessions where C-suite members meet without a strict agenda, yep no agenda! This can feel strange but I have seen this work brilliantly for creating genuine and open dialogue amongst C-suite peers. It’s a great format for sharing personal insights, perspectives, building trust and transparent communication. The list goes on…! Give it a try and watch that depth in connectivity develop.?

?2. Is Everyone Clear? Are You Sure?

This is a really important conversation to have, to assess if any strategic or understanding gaps exist. It will soon become clear how prevalent that strategic connectivity is amongst the team. For example, can each member clearly articulate the strategy and desired outcomes to others? Can they do so with no personal filter applied? Is everyone’s understanding the same, are they clear on what the organisation is striving for? This sense check is critical for making sure the C-suite is one voice out to the organisation but also one connected team with joint accountability.??

?3. Focus on Relationship Building. ALWAYS.

Ensuring structured but authentic personal development activities are in place will ensure that connectivity is always abundant. For example, one-on-one executive coaching or team coaching sessions are invaluable for this. Personality and communication style profiling improves mutual understanding of each other's work and communication preferences. Alongside, creating opportunities for genuine, shared experiences outside traditional work environments, such as team retreats or getting involved in collaborative purpose-led projects. All of these ideas aim to elevate connectivity from a transactional relationship to a meaningful, strategic partnership among C-suite peers.

So in conclusion, ask yourself, are we connected enough to lead at our best? The answer might just be the key to driving your success.

Until next time…

Suzy x

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