09/13/2019

A Systems View of Leadership Team Effectiveness

Great leadership teams function as dynamic systems

Great leadership teams function as dynamic systems – living, breathing organisms that have characteristics that transcend those of its individual members. Much like a physical system (i.e., car engine) or a biological system (i.e., human body), the components of a leadership team system are influenced by the environments in which they exist and affect each other sometimes constructively and other times in unintended or undesirable ways. Dynamic systems are complex which explains why it is such hard work to evolve a group of individual executives to an integrated body that leverages their unique talents and experience for the benefit of the organization they serve.

In our view there are four primary components of a leadership team system – (1) structure; (2) relational dynamics; (3) formal team leadership; and (4) the environment in which the team operates.

While challenging, leadership teams can optimize their effectiveness only when they are able to take a ‘systems view’ of the team and fully recognize the interactions of these components.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Chief Executive.