By Kevin Cashman; originally posted on ChiefExecutive.net on October 26, 2017.
Research conducted by both Harvard and colleagues at Korn Ferry has demonstrated one unsettling fact: senior teams are often the worst performing teams in organizations. But why? There are many possible reasons, but one of the biggest is a lack of shared purpose.
I’ve lost track of the number of times an experienced CEO has approached me wondering, “Why isn’t our senior team more engaged with the new strategy? What we need to do and how to get there are crystal clear. But the more I push, the less motivated people seem to be. What’s missing?”
Senior teams face three big realities that have to be placed in meaningful relationship for our enterprises to thrive:
- The big ‘what’ question (vision): What is possible for us to become?
- The big ‘how’ question (strategy): How will we get there?
- The big ‘why’ question (purpose): Why is it so important that we exist in the world?
