I recently facilitated a one and a half day off-site meeting with a CEO and her Executive Leadership Team (ELT), as I do a couple of times a month with different clients whom we engage with.

The Bailey Group has a unique process for working with the CEO and ELT that stops the downward spiral of poor financial results and lack of focus that often comes with transformation, and puts the organization back on the path to growth and innovation. Our work with this particular ELT has been about just that: Bringing focus and clarity as they transform the organization to respond to a changing industry environment characterized by reduced demand for their historical value proposition, and as a result, deteriorating short and long term financial performance.

Enhancing the team’s effectiveness and enjoyment with working with each other is also a necessary outcome. Specifically, trust, decision-making and the ability to engage in constructive disagreement as a means for stimulating innovation have been critical areas of focus.

We closed the day and a half retreat by having each ELT member reflect on whether the time together had successfully achieved his or her goals for the off-site. What struck me most about the debrief (and was particularly gratifying) was the number of members who described how the team had changed as a result of our work together and what they said:

• The team is no longer spinning its wheels; it has identified, decided on, mobilized around and is executing a set of priorities and associated metrics
• Team members laugh a lot (this is new!) and actually have fun together
• Team members are more honest with each other; no more closed door meetings after the meetings to talk about what people really felt and thought
• The team is beginning to look forward and create its future rather than feeling overwhelmed with seemingly insurmountable challenges in the present
• The team is focused on identifying experiments for testing innovative ideas for restarting growth
• The team is not waiting for the CEO to make all the decisions; they are now a true decision-making team with a growing enterprise perspective

These outcomes are not unique to this particular ELT. TBG’s CEO Advisory and Team Alignment processes are a result of over 25 years of experience working with CEOs and ELTs. Both are grounded in the multiple disciplines of business acumen, neuroscience, organizational psychology and mindfulness. Sessions are based on researched and tried and true methodologies, and are always customized to meet the unique personalities and challenges of the client team.

I am always exhausted at the end of one of these sessions, but mostly exhilarated by being part of a leadership team’s growing effectiveness and enjoyment.

Want to talk about how your team can benefit from TBG’s Leverage™ process? Give me a call at 763-545-5997 x305 or send me an email: [email protected]