7 Tips for Building an Aligned Team as a C-Suite Executive:
As a company leader, establishing an efficient team comes from a clearly communicated company mission, a strong leadership style, and an openness to personal growth. Let’s talk about ways you can not only better recognize areas of personal advancement and realize a greater personal leadership style, but efficiently align and establish a goal-oriented team.
“In a study of 1,000 American executives, 65% would rather have a better boss than a raise.”
Embrace Lifelong Learning and Redirection:
Commit to continuous personal and professional development. High leadership positions demand a breadth of knowledge, so invest in your education and skills regularly. Oftentimes, leaders subconsciously fall into the habit of relying on their success as evidence for their confidence in their decision-making. Success is key to building credibility, but being open to countering ideas and new directions is the key to continued growth. Your drive to learn more about not only the industry and your competitors, but about your own areas of improvement as a leader is critical to success.
“To succeed as CEO, you can never stop learning.”
Communicate Effectively and Efficiently:
Communicate clearly, concisely, and confidently with your team. Ensure that every big picture plan and new direction is broken down into approachable mission-driven goals. When your team is not only goal-oriented, but can confidently frame decisions around a clear company mission, decisions will feel more purposeful and aligned. Effective communication amongst not only high-leadership, but all employees, is critical to aligning your team and catalyzing company growth.
Understand the Company's Vision, Strategy, and Consumer Value…and make sure your entire team does too:
You might feel like you have a strong understanding of your company mission, but can you say it in one sentence? Can you say it in 2 words? Can your team and employees do the same?
“Most of the hundreds of owners and CEOs we have worked with had no systematic approach to understanding what’s driving the value of the companies they spent years—or even a lifetime—building.”
Maintain a deep understanding of your organization's brand: your mission, vision, tone, personality and consumer value. A goal-oriented strategy, that not only focuses on an overall mission statement, but also the daily building blocks that get your company closer to that mission ensures that success feels more realizable in day-to-day decisions. Hiring companies like EnticEdge as not only a value appraiser, but as a partner equipped to help you redefine your unique brand value and mission is critical to aligning and launching your company forward.
The value of your team’s ability to not only comprehend, but efficiently articulate your brand value, vision, and strategy is unparalleled. Cornerpiece® was designed to ensure that all three are clear, concise, and impactful—and at the forefront of every decision. Company growth is rooted in team alignment, and Cornerpiece® aligns the goals and decision-making of high leadership and team members around a stronger mission statement.
Solidify Strong Employee Relationships:
Invest time in networking, actively listening, and showing genuine interest in the perspectives and opinions of your employees. Cultivating a collaborative space for employees, without fear of criticism, offers an opportunity for you to hear counter beliefs for productive change. An openness to the opinions of employees ensures that your own preconceived beliefs don’t cloud opportunities for growth and redirection.
Have a System to Stay Informed on Industry Trends and Variables:
Stay updated on industry trends, market dynamics, and the competitive landscape by creating regular routines to gather that information. Knowledge of the company mission is important, but knowledge of industry trends, variables, and relevant competitors is just as valuable as understanding your mission. Knowing not only which direction your business is growing, but what obstacles are ahead is key to proactive leadership. A daily podcast habit, LinkedIn time, regularly attending conferences that resonate with you, all of these things allow you to stay in touch with your industry. As a C-Suite executive it can be easy to pass these responsibilities over to other teams, but first-hand insights are valuable as well.
“Keeping up with the ever-changing economy, shifting marketplace, and industry innovations will help you strategically position your business to capture the strongest revenue channels going forward .”
Become Adaptable and Open to Counter Beliefs:
Being open to adaptations and new directions in decision-making is critical for growth. As you grow further into your role as a company leader, you will find yourself becoming comfortable with trusting your own voice and input. While this sense of assurance is beneficial to making quick critical decisions, ignoring the input of others is when confidence becomes unproductive. A closed-mind and an inability to adapt can stunt your growth, especially in an constantly evolving industry.
Exemplify Authenticity and Brand Values:
Trust us, we saved the best and most underrated tip for last. Why? Because the value of an ethical and authentic environment, not only in the office, but amongst leadership is a frequently undervalued tactic in creating companywide success.
“Research has linked greater integrity with increased workplace performance.”
The ethical environment you create shapes your company. If your company structure is built on an inauthentic framework, you will eventually face critical gaps in leadership alignment. A lack of alignment trickles down to employees–creating instability and division. Evaluating your company values, or bringing in a third party opinion to challenge your preconceived beliefs, is often a missing piece in understanding your company in and out. Cornerpiece® helps you do just that.
Remember that success among C-Suite leadership is not just about individual achievements but also about the overall efficiency and alignment of the organization. By embodying these rules, you can enhance your working relationship with fellow senior leaders, align and redirect your company towards new areas of growth, and become an invaluable asset to your company.