Four Leaders In a Leaderless Company

What happens when you have multiple leaders within an organization but no leadership??

This was the challenge one of our clients faced - let’s call them Company X - and is surprisingly common within organizations that have undergone a drastic change.??

The individuals are strong, talented, and motivated functional leaders. But combining as a leadership team unearths a new kind of shared leadership. Something that requires stepping forward and making the important decisions together.?

Do you see similarities within your organization?

As functional experts rise up the ranks, their roles move from operational, to managerial, to horizontal leadership. Often without upskilling to bridge the gap in their confidence and ability to perform at an optimum level.?

As noted in many a leadership book: Managers don’t always make good leaders.?

In his article titled "Management Is (Still) Not Leadership," John Kotter, a renowned leadership expert, distinguishes between management and leadership.?

Kotter emphasizes that while management entails planning, organizing, and controlling resources, leadership involves motivating and enabling individuals to achieve a common vision. To align for change.

So what was the default when the leaders of Company X became overwhelmed with the complexities of collaborating as a team for organizational change??

They fell back on what they knew. Got stuck in the weeds. Focused on their vertical. Managed their teams in a silo.?

The transition from a collective of functional experts ‘doing’ their job. To a team ‘being’ leaders is crucial, yet challenging.?

Our mission was set for Company X.?

Let’s unpack Company X’s challenges and the team coaching methods we used to support the senior leaders in becoming confident, accountable, and more than the sum of their parts.??

Challenge 1: The Lack of Decision-Making?

Leadership roles often require making tough decisions. Without coaching that meets the team where they are, the leaders in Company X struggled with indecision, affecting morale and organizational performance.

Our Solution?

We took them through trust-based work, to a place where they could name what they needed from each other. With the collective understanding of each person’s perspective on priorities.

In trusting their teammates, the leaders felt safe to put themselves out there and make big decisions toward a collective vision.

Together we explored:

• How to think and talk together to approach things differently?

• How to make decisions together for the company
• What is governance? What are the policy gates and boundaries??
• How to communicate with non-judgement and respect

Problem 2:? The Limited Vision

The senior leaders of Company X focused on their specific areas of expertise, managing teams vertically, instead of horizontally across the organization.?

This hindered their ability to see the bigger picture and align their efforts with the organization's overall goals and strategies. The narrow focus impeded innovation and change.

Our Solution We dissected what it means to be a leadership team leading a company, not a manager leading a single function.

Together we explored:?

• What defines the culture? Do we live our values?
• Are we held accountable if not??
• Where are the gaps in our shared vision and values??
• How do we show up collectively for clients and how do we show up internally?

Challenge 3: Dialogue and accountability

Despite ‘coming together’ for meetings, the leaders were operating in silos which meant different communication patterns, goal-setting and operating models across the organization.?

For employees, this manifested as chaotic processes and a sentiment that ‘management doesn't follow through”

Our Solution

We co-created with the team a way for them to have a conversation as a whole, rather than each leader giving status reports on their function.

Together we explored:?

• How the leaders could support each other better
• Cross-functional feedback, post-project reviews and celebrations
• The role of team learning – not making mistakes “for nothing.”
• Celebrating wins at a whole organizational level for effort and results?

The Power of Team Coaching for Company X?

Team Coaching supports the team to make their own meaning. It does not facilitate a resolution, but instead provides the team with the tools to find their own path.?

For Company X, the leadership team began to notice what wasn’t getting done, and found the courage to step forward and take decisions by the handle and own responsibility.?

Through our sessions, they noticed:?

• Improved Collaboration: Breaking down silos and fostering a culture of trust
• Enhanced Performance: Higher levels of productivity and innovation
• Conflict Resolution: Promoting healthy and constructive debate?

Team Coaching for Company X gave the leaders, who were still operating in functional-expert-mode, space for visionary Leadership.?

They could emerge together with a strategic mindset and envision the organization's future.?

If teams within your organization can improve collaboration, enhance performance, and resolve conflict, Team Coaching can support a long-lasting change.?

Send us a message to find out more, or head to our website: https://morandmckay.com/

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