Mikea recent blog, I explored the question of who should be on your leadership team. In that blog, I noted that a person can be a “star performer” and report directly to the first chair leader, and yet he or she may not belong at the strategic decision-making table. A person that is highly territorial and incapable of seeing the big picture probably doesn’t belong on this kind of team. That is nice in theory, but what should you do if that person is already on your executive team? That’s the question that a friend posed to me after I wrote the previous blog. If you find yourself in this tricky situation, here are three suggestions:
- Be clear about the team’s purpose. Patrick Lencioni describes “meeting stew” – the mess that leaders often create when, for the sake of efficiency, the agenda for the leadership team meeting is a hodgepodge of technical details, blue sky thinking and everything in between. If the purpose of the meeting is simply coordination and communication, this narrowly focused leader may need to be at the table. Your frustration may reflect the “meeting stew” more than a specific person’s contributions.
- Give honest feedback to the individual. Does the person in question even know that his or her “contributions” are not really helping the team think strategically? Before removing them from the team, give them the benefit of honest feedback. See if there is any improvement before taking away their seat at the table.
- Create a separate forum to address strategic issues. If ‘meeting stew” is a problem, set aside a different time that is dedicated to long-range, strategic matters. As you are doing that, you can invite the “right people” to the meeting. That may include individuals who are not on the executive team and may exclude some who are on that team.
