Uncommon Strategies to Achieve Optimal Cohesiveness and Performance in Executive and Multi-level Leadership Teams (Part 2)

How about some uncommon solutions to help executives and multi-level leadership teams to achieve optimal cohesiveness and sustainable high performance??

Virtual reality goggles that you cannot take off.

The typical responses include inspiring with a vision, developing others, leading a team, handling conflict, communicating effectively, and leading change. While all are universally needed to grow leaders, they do not address the more systems issues that executive teams face. In the past 20-plus years, we have been facilitating executive and leadership teams to examine the root causes of the lack of optimal relationships and results.?Guiding teams to first understand the systemic gaps and address them to achieve higher performance, and it is so satisfying.??

After weathering the recent storm, your organization has likely reacted to societal and culture change, rapid changes in technology, uncertain business conditions, and significant talent and workforce changes.?Now we are experiencing renewed energy and momentum to regain lost margin, performance, revenue, talent, and profits to move forward.?

There are?six systematic issues?that Executive and Multi-level leadership teams are facing?now:?

1. Identity Crisis?
2. Lack of Leadership Community Connection?
3. Barriers to Vision/Alignment?
4. Inconsistent Purpose and Priorities?
5. Lack of a Learning Culture?
6. Talent Management Issues?

Over the next 12 weeks, we will examine the six systematic issues that executives and multi-level leadership teams face now and will share some strategies to help.?

Last week we discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an identity crisis in many organizations and suggested three strategies for leaders to reconnect with their teams and create a new future identity. The strategies include creating a new strategic plan, addressing team struggles empathetically, and inspiring the team to believe in one vision. We emphasize the need for leaders to take action to create a new reality and become experts at it!

This week we will discuss:

2.) Lack of Leadership Community Connection?

Consider the last time you experienced a profound sense of community that elevated your joy and well-being. Personally, I felt this while watching Ted Lasso - “Don’t worry about a thing, because everything is going to be all right.?I say, don’t worry about a thing, because every little thing is going to be all right!!”?At a recent OSU Football game, it was such a sense of community on that sunny afternoon! It's important to remember that these moments of connection that uplift and elevate our well-being are not exclusive to leisure activities - they can be found in the workplace as well.

The second systematic issue that Executive teams and leaders face is the lack of Leadership Community Connection among leaders and teams.?This is at risk at a time when the war wages over how and when organizations are returning to work or a hybrid model as the push for performance is back. Leadership Community Connection refers to the relationship between leaders and their communities. It involves a leader understanding the needs and values of their community and taking action to serve and support an optimal connection. This connection can help build trust, establish a sense of shared purpose, and common values, as well as create a positive impact on the broader community. It involves listening, connecting, collaborating, and being accountable to the community as a whole.

Some data to consider about our collective experience:

• Mental health challenges are on the rise due to isolation and loneliness reported at an all-time high in 2023.?
• Millennials report the highest rate of loneliness of any generation to date.??
• Isolation and loneliness are caused by the lack of connection and break-down in communities, in neighborhoods, at church, as volunteers, and especially at work.
• We are social beings and the connections that foster community due to societal changes are now occurring primarily at work.?
• Also, the lack of connection leads to dissatisfaction, disengagement, and risk of leader turnover.

Three suggested strategies to build Leadership Community, include:?

1. Executive teams may devote social and development time to model a strong Leadership Community with each other.?If this team deeply listens, has empathy, seeks connection, has fun, and values a sense of belonging others will follow.
2. There is an opportunity to shift functional mindsets to create one enterprise system Leadership Community among all leaders to foster connection, belonging, and learning, with a focus on vision, mission, performance alignment, and results.??
3. To retain the best and brightest leadership talent, it's beneficial to create a strong sense of engagement among them, where they feel connected and committed as part of a Leadership Community. If individuals feel a deep sense of belonging, connection, and shared values, then, this team becomes a powerful motivator for leaders to stay with the organization.?

What are the moments of connection, joy, and a sense of belonging that will become the stories of your community? When leaders prioritize pride and purpose in their work, they can inspire these moments of connection, and belonging, and contribute their best to the company and each other. As a leader in your community, it is up to you to seek out and create opportunities for joy, fun, and fulfillment in your work!?

And again, just for fun … “Don’t worry about a thing, because everything is going to be all right.?I say, don’t worry about a thing, because every little thing is going to be all right.”?

Written by Diane Egbers, Founder and CEO of Leadership Excelleration, Inc. (LEI) and author of The Ascending Leader, engages with clients and guides a consulting team to provide all aspects of executive coaching, organizational consulting, and leadership programs. Diane understands her client’s needs by leveraging experience serving more than 250 organizations and her prior role as VP of Human Resources.?