Improving Alignment Across the Senior Leadership Team

Senior leadership team (SLT) alignment is a frequently discussed topic across our global, peer-to-peer Board Community. We only have to look at our research so far this year to see how important it is to senior executives. For example, in our most recent report conducted with leaders operating in the APAC region, building alignment in the senior leadership team was cited as the number one area of improvement for executives.?

Similarly, almost one in five (17 percent) of growth company leaders told us that a lack of alignment on commercial objectives was a primary reason for failure in the SLT. Mirroring our APAC leaders, HR Directors say building alignment across the top team was where they most needed to improve and at Board level, just 65 percent of Chairs and Non-executive Directors believe there is full alignment between the top roles in the organisation.??

So, how can leadership teams ensure they are aligned? As the current global economic climate hits businesses with constant disruptions and challenges, now more than ever it is critical teams are taking a synchronised approach to strategy, leadership and stakeholder management.???

There are, of course, myriad ways any top team can work on becoming more aligned. Now in our 20th year of supporting and inspiring leaders and leadership teams from different organisations, sectors and geographies, here at Criticaleye we understand that building alignment must be framed by trust, communication and having shared goals.?

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• Trust?

Building an environment where trust is at the core of the SLT is vital to top team alignment. Individuals need high levels of confidence in each other during strategic decision making and to achieve shared goals. A mutual respect when supporting and challenging new ideas is also key to getting the best outcome. Building relationships both in and out of the boardroom is one way to foster higher levels of trust and respect among SLT members.??

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• Open Communication?

Open and effective communication is a vital part of any prosperous organisation and the foundations for this must begin at the top. It’s important to maintain honest and frank dialogue across the SLT, as well as being clear and well informed around big topics such as strategy, culture and growth. Encouraging transparency will open the door to constructive feedback, as well as creating opportunities to learn and grow as a team. Great communication is also key to creating an agile team with the ability to drive change swiftly and effectively.??

• Clear Goals?

Leadership teams with clear and concise goals which all executives buy into will perform better than those who do not invest time and energy into creating this alignment. This clarity is also important in driving purpose, both within the top team and throughout the employee base, acting as an important guide for decision making at every level.??

SLT alignment will continue to be a critical topic for our Members. Specifically, we’re looking forward to covering Board Alignment on Strategy, Stakeholders and Performance at our upcoming Growth Company Forum in September. Alignment across the top team will also be key topic at this year’s CFO Retreat in November focusing on New Models for Growth.??

Want to find out more about the support we offer leaders across our Community? Get in touch with our team here.?