Updated: January 5, 2021
Ask ACE
How to lead an executive team to independence
By John Shorb, The Delphi Group Inc.
Q: A small business owner or leader wants the organization’s four-person executive team to be more independent, but hasn’t been able to make that happen. Suggestions?
ACE advises: The operative word is team. This group may not actually function, or see themselves, as a team. And it’s just easier to rely on the owner or leader.
The leader should:
- Reflect upon and clarify what the owner-president role should be versus the team, and on everyone’s readiness for this change.
- Work with the team as a group to clearly specify what their role should be, individually and together.
- Assess the team’s ability to perform a different role in terms of skills, time and resources. There may be a need for additional training or individual coaching for the owner or president as well as individual executives.
- Become more of a coach to the team and individual members. The team will not immediately be able to perform the new role, but will grow into it over time with help from the company’s leader.
- Consciously and deliberately assess on a regular basis how they’re doing in the new roles: What’s working, what can improve and what needs to change.
John Shorb can be contacted at jbshorb@thedelphigroup.com.
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