Of all of the things I do in my consulting practice, the work that I get the most fulfillment from is working with executive teams.
I say this for the following reasons:
- I know that if I can help an executive team elevate, they can elevate their organization
- I have been fortunate to see that impact
- When I work with executive teams, I generally work with them long enough to build deep and lasting relationships (which also helps me to see the impact of the work that I do with these teams)
In this article, I want to share how I commonly work with executive teams and the impact that I generally see.
My general focus when working with executive teams
Across the dozens of executive teams that I have worked with, I have observed that every executive team has struggled with two interrelated issues:
- They collectively operate in Mind 2.0, which means that (1) they are wired to stand out, advance, and get ahead, and (2) they are much more focused on short-term results and outcomes as opposed to long-term purpose fulfillment.
- Partly because they operate in Mind 2.0, they haven’t properly prioritized the establishment of a strong leadership foundation to lead from (this includes getting clear on their purpose, mission, vision, and values). Such is essential for not only leading effectively, but for creating an engaging culture that will lead to long-term purpose fulfillment.
Thus, when I work with executive teams, I am generally helping them do one or both of the following:
- Elevating from Mind 2.0 to Mind 3.0
- Establishing a strong leadership foundation.
Let me dive into what each generally involves.
How do I help executives elevate from Mind 2.0 to Mind 3.0?
To help executives elevate from Mind 2.0 to Mind 3.0, I generally follow this pattern:
- Lay the Foundation – At this stage, I communicate the principles of vertical development, the mind levels, and Success Mindsets. This helps (1) them awaken to where they are at and where they need to go, and (2) create a shared language that they can collectively focus on in their development efforts. This usually takes the form of half-day workshops.
- Individual Vertical Development – From there, I generally work with the executives on a one-on-one basis. This generally involves doing 360-degree feedback and engaging in a vertical development coaching exercise to deepen their self-awareness and identify why and how they need to vertically develop. Then, we construct a personal vertical development plan.
- Collective Vertical Development – From there, I generally identify themes or issues across the team that are helpful to explore and address at the executive team level. How much time and effort we spend here depends on the depth and severity of the issues that are surfaced. This also commonly translates into the next phase of establishing a strong leadership foundation.
How do I help executive teams establish a strong leadership foundation?
The answer to this question somewhat depends on the current strength of their leadership foundation.
More often than not, the executive team has not worked on their leadership foundation. When that is the case, we start at the cornerstone of that foundation and focus on developing a clear, inspirational, and stakeholder-centric purpose statement. There is a process to doing this that brings a lot of energy to the team and into the organization. I also work with the team to structure a plan for rolling out the new purpose statement and keeping it relevant.
If the organization has a clear, inspirational, and stakeholder-centric purpose statement, or if we have worked to establish that, we generally move onto and focus on the other elements of the leadership foundation, including a mission statement, vision statement, and values statement. Or, we frame this up as doing cultural improvement work that can be focused on culture generally, creating an accountability culture, creating an agile culture, etc.
What are the outcomes of engaging in this work?
The primary outcome that I see with doing the Mind Level work is an elevation of the maturity and sophistication of the executives’ leadership. They start talking and operating at a higher level.
For example, with one executive team that I worked with, when I first met them, I asked them how they measure success. Their answer was, “Double-digit growth year-over-year.” This is very much a Mind 2.0 answer. If you were to ask them that question now, they would give an answer directly connected to their purpose statement.
Also, we are able to address a variety of common leadership issues that include:
- Executives operating as VPs instead of as executives
- Micromanagement and control issues
- Short-sightedness
- And a variety of blocks and fears that hold the team back from operating more effectively and being more innovative and future-ready
The primary outcome that I see when doing Leadership Foundation work is an elevation of the culture of the organization. We start to see more life and engagement in the organization, along with empowerment, energy, healthy accountability, and the growth of both the employees in the organization as well as growth of the organization as a whole. Further, when this foundation is laid, I observe that the executives are not having to play the role of firefighter, and they can play the role of strategic leader. You get a completely different feeling in the organization.
I love it!
If you would like to explore creating a program to elevate your executive team, let’s connect.
Client Testimonials
Ryan has been a consultant to our organization during some critical transformation phases in our business. His insight and his practical solutions have been invaluable as we’ve navigated issues around growth mindset, purpose, culture, and accountability. Ryan’s knowledge, coupled with his commitment to our success as a team, has not only made a significant impact on our team but also on our entire organization.
-Brent Y. – HR Senior Director (member of executive team)
The partnership we have developed with Ryan has allowed our Executive Leadership Team to better understand and address the issues that had prevented us from performing at the level we needed to. It not only allowed our team to elevate its game, but also each of us as leaders of our respective teams. We had hoped that the outcome of the engagement with Ryan would enable us to develop the right business strategy, anchored on the right organizational purpose and focused on innovation. It did.
-Mario P. – Vice President of Talent Management (member of executive team)
Ryan has been engaged over the past two years to work with our leadership team and has made outstanding contributions, resulting in brilliant outcomes. His input has been important, as we crossed through a critical cultural change, aiming to open mindsets and to define necessary improvements for the team and business. Ryan guided our leadership team through this period with enthusiasm and confidence. I have a lot of respect for his work and dedication.
-Jesse T. – General Manager (of a high-end hospitality venue)
