3 Strategies For High-Performing Senior Leadership Teams

High-powered senior leadership teams play a pivotal role in shaping organizational success.
Their ability to think together influences the quality and clarity of strategic prioritization, and their
ability to work together primes connectivity among the people and culture of the organization.
But according to recent research, less than a quarter of senior leadership teams are considered
highly effective. In their seminal work, Senior Leadership Teams—What It Takes to Make Them
Great, Harvard Business School academics and consultants surveyed 120 senior leadership
teams globally. They measured effectiveness based on three criteria: measurable organizational
performance, continuous team improvement and team member learning and satisfaction. The
book details the fact that only 21% of the teams surveyed were high-performing on all three
criteria.
​
The findings of the study emphasize that those teams that were successful demonstrated trust,
shared purpose and mutual respect. It’s easy to agree with these values, but the low percentage
of high-performing leadership teams shows that it is very hard to implement them.
Here are three practices to bring trust and respect into the everyday behavior of senior
leadership teams.

1. Overcome empathy gaps.
Senior leaders have come into their positions of power by being successful in previous roles.
This success affects their brains. Research shows that empathy decreases when power
increases. This decrease in empathy can get in the way of senior leaders’ ability to think, listen
and feel effectively with and alongside each other. (Yes, feeling is an important part of thinking
and decision-making.)
An explicit commitment to a growth mindset and vulnerability practices can help counter this
potential empathy gap. Try starting your meetings with everyone sharing “my biggest mistake
last month” or ending meetings with “what I learned in today’s meeting.”

2. Embrace each other’s superpowers. 
Every leader possesses distinct talents—some excel at strategy, others at execution; some see
possibility, others see problems. These differences can either harmonize or clash. A visionary
CEO may clash with a detail-oriented chief operating officer (COO), leading to friction.
Effective senior leadership teams recognize the value of diverse talents and also know that each
talent has a shadow side. And they regularly take the time to discover each other’s superpowers,
pitfalls and shadows. Make sure this discovery is ongoing by talking about each other when
you’re in the same room: “what I appreciate in you” and “where I see you struggle.”

3. Manage power dynamics.
With ambition and drive come ambitious and driven leaders. Even a “servant leader” has an ego.
When resource decisions ripple through an organization, stakes can get high and egos can
clash. When egos clash, collaboration suffers.
High-functioning teams prioritize collective impact over individual power plays. Every team
member is responsible for signaling and addressing power plays with each other, but the most
senior team leader needs to go first and set the tone. She needs to address and coach on power
dynamics diligently. If hidden agendas and power plays are accepted at the outset, norms are
set. A shared vision and values can serve as a compass for guiding the team’s dialogue and
actions. One practice to monitor values is to continually and publicly reflect on adherence to
those values.

Conclusion
Senior leadership teams are multifaceted challenges: The smartest individual players do not
always make for the best-performing team. Fostering active listening and empathy, embracing
and bridging differences, and navigating power dynamics are three practices to incorporate into a
team’s working relationship that lay the foundation for trust and respect. Trust and respect are
the key ingredients that allow a team to think together to create clarity for the best course of
action.
​
High-functioning leadership teams can be strategic differentiators. The key lies in ongoing
self-reflection and dialogue and the open-mindedness of each leader to reflect, learn and change
regardless of past success.

This article originally appeared on Forbes Coaches Council:
https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescoachescouncil/2025/12/15/user-instructions-are-the-most-underused-leadership-tool/