Executive Team Development

OUR APPROACH

Senior executives and senior executive team members function, perhaps more than other teams within an organization, at highly independent and interdependent levels. Regardless of the proximity between members, this independent and interdependent reality often creates challenges for building and sustaining a high performance executive team. Each member must perform at his or her best — and the team must perform at its collective best — in order to enjoy and sustain optimal performance.

It is also important to recognize that individual executive and executive team development are independent and interdependent and, ideally, should be parallel processes. Performance and development go hand in hand and great leaders of executive teams recognize this relationship. Great teams enjoy the benefits of this parallel process, which also allows each member, as well as the collective team, to more fully leverage his or her strengths and achieve high performance on a more consistent and sustained basis.

One other interesting fact: Research has confirmed that teams have aggregate levels of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and that teams who tap into and leverage collective EQ are nearly twice as productive as those who don't. In other words, integrating EQ into the team development process is equally significant to the influence on individual executive performance. In summary, IQ + EQ = 100% of potential.

A few fundamental questions to consider: What key factors most significantly influence team performance? What are the unique behaviors and attributes of high-performance executive teams? What is the most effective method for executive team development that will allow the team to achieve and sustain its highest potential?

Fortunately, there are answers to these questions and proven methods for executive and executive team development. Our parallel approach to development will identify, align and more effectively utilize individual and collective strengths to build and sustain a high performance executive team.

HPS offers executive and executive team assessment and developmental methods that are customized for your business in the context of your vision, mission, and desired business results. Our customized approach allows you to tap and more fully leverage individual executives and the executive team’s collective strengths, knowledge and skills.

HPS offers a unique research-based executive team effectiveness assessment to determine how your team is currently performing against key factors that most significantly influence team performance. Our team effectiveness assessment is used in conjunction with individual assessments and may also include executive coaching programs. This combination and parallel approach provides an objective evaluation of executive and executive team style and behavioral preferences. The results raise awareness of how these preferences affect both individual effectiveness and executive team performance. The results also provide a better understanding of vulnerable areas and improvement opportunities which may influence the success of each executive, the executive team and — most importantly — the business.

YOUR RESULTS

Evaluate executive team performance, as a team process and development exercise, in a non-threatening and confidential manner. Assess and identify the factors which are influencing individual effectiveness and team performance in relation to the organization's vision, the team’s mission, and business goals and objectives.

Identify strengths, areas of vulnerability and improvement opportunities at the individual and team level. Develop realistic, achievable and sustainable performance improvement action plans which allow each member and the team to play more fully, individually and collectively, to their unique strengths, knowledge and skills.

Assess and evaluate performance between different executive teams (e.g. different business units) to identify internal best practices of both the most effective team(s) as well as the most effective leader(s). The combination becomes part of the organization’s team and leadership development program and long-range succession planning process.

Elevate team aggregate levels of Emotional Intelligence (EQ), which research has shown has the potential to double (or more) overall team productivity. Elevate individual levels of Emotional Intelligence as team members gain a greater sense of inclusion, satisfaction and value as key players and members of a senior executive high-performance team.

Experience the positive influence of significantly more effective executive and executive team leadership throughout the organization. In essence, when senior executives and the executive team are working collaboratively and effectively together, the positive influence throughout the organization, aside from the obvious role modeling of effective teamwork, is huge. HPS refers to this influence as "The Audience is Listening," which means that employees, teams and the organization are constantly listening and watching the senior leadership. If the senior leadership is functioning in a healthy, productive and high performance fashion, then the chances are much greater that similar performance will occur throughout the organization.