As we move into another new year, one of my priorities is strengthening the leadership team. As a senior management team, each member is completely committed to his/her own functional teams and employees. However, we’ve not spent sufficient time strengthening the cohesion and teamwork within the leadership team itself. Like all teams, the leadership team has dysfunctions and issues that need to be worked out with deliberate focus and effort. It’s my job to make the development of the leadership teamwork a high priority for us all.

We are not unique in today’s corporate environment. Most executives and senior managers focus primarily on their own teams and do not make the same commitment to making the leadership team better. The truth is that without a committed, cohesive leadership team, there can be a lot of politics, dysfunctions and inefficiencies throughout an organization. The leadership team needs to be the top priority of all its members — only then, can the leaders provide the type of foundation to be able to effectively lead their own teams.