Years ago, when I was writing the first edition of The Next Level, I interviewed a very wise senior executive named Lucien Alziari. Lucien is currently the CHRO at Prudential and has served in comparable roles at Pepsi, Avon, Maersk, and other companies. One of the ideas he shared that really stuck with me was that the most successful executives are those that approach their work with a business first, function second mindset.
That mindset is the essence of what it means to be on the first team. If you’re a senior executive, your first team is you and all your colleagues who report to the CEO. As the first team, you are collectively responsible for the success of the enterprise. You prioritize the needs of the business above the demands of your functional responsibilities. If all of you on the first team are doing that well, the functional responsibilities take care of themselves because each of you have all the support you could ever need.
So, what are the specific behaviors of a stellar member of the first team? Here’s a partial list that I’ve seen exhibited by executives who fit that description:
Play the Bigger Game: First team executives always start with the question, “What are we trying to accomplish in the business?” and then reverse engineer their way back from that bigger game picture to determine the best way for themselves and their functions to contribute to collective success.
Bust Silos: To do that, they don’t get stuck in the org chart. They bust silos by reaching out to colleagues anywhere in the business to set up collaborative partnerships that create more value than they and their functional teams could create on their own.
Speak the Truth in Love: Great first teamers recognize that progress requires candor and sharing their point of view. When they do, they do it with respect and even affection for their colleagues. They recognize that getting results over the long run, requires investing in healthy relationships so they deliver their truth with love.
Disagree, Then Commit: They also understand that they’re never going to win every argument but because they’re part of a team where value is placed on everyone being heard, they commit to and act on the team’s decision even if they disagree with it.
Share Resources: Stellar first teamers recognize that when everyone wins, they do too. So, they don’t hoard the best talent, ideas, or other resources. They share what they’re allocated in service of the business first, function second approach to collective success.
Have Each Other’s Backs: True team members have each other’s backs. That’s true of great first team members as well. They look out for each other; they speak up for each other; they give each other a heads up when they see a problem emerging.
Role Model the Approach: It’s way too common to see a highly aligned first team that hasn’t taken the next step of role modeling their collaborative, silo busting, have each other’s backs approach with the leaders who report to all of them. Great first teamers make the implicit explicit by talking about and coaching for the first team behaviors that they expect to see from the broader leadership team.
What else would you add to the list of behaviors exhibited by stellar first teams?
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