Three jobs of the CEO- chief team builder, chief strategist and chief salesman.
This article examines two of those parts- sales and senior leadership team. How well-defined are these processes, and how effective are they?
My belief is that it is a large part of the CEO's job to build and lead a great team that creates value for the business. In a public company that value turns up as the acid test of stock price appreciation which is driven by sustainable earnings growth. In a private company, sustainable earnings growth is the better metric.
Why is building a great team so important?
Because business is complicated. As a business grows it must be broken down into many teams to get the work done- individual contributors must work together across specialities, geographies and functions to achieve the outcomes required for success. In a small business, this is not such an issue as people all know one another and communication and alignment are pretty easy. However, with success, the constraint becomes “team”.
A great team has clear and agreed goals (short-term and long-term) and purpose. They operate in an open and candid way- each member feels confident and safe to express their views on important matters and they hold each other accountable for performance to high standards. They each own their performance and keep their own scores which are reviewed each week in the executive meeting so that the whole team understands exactly how it is performing in a timely way. Decisions are made, based on the data, shared at that meeting as to what new actions need to be taken to keep the whole business on track to succeed. They work through well-formed and efficient processes that share information and actions so that different functions can combine together and work brilliantly together in harmony and support of each other. They separate tactical discussions from strategic discussions and have a cadence of meetings vs doing that operates as a refined well-oiled system. Different meetings daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annually- all scripted to set and review goals, strategy, tactics, and actual performance.
What evidence do you have that a great team is being formed or that the dynamic described above is being created? As a business grows process deficiencies emerge as the old ways of doing things just stop working. Frustration grows, targets are missed, the business stalls, chaos reigns, and frustration boils over. The first reaction is to point fingers at the people for not working hard enough or to accuse them of being incompetent. In my view these are symptoms of process issues. Processes have not been evolved to deal with the complexity that come from successful growth.
If you have the right people in most of the seats is there an articulation of the issues that are in the way and stopping progress? Is the team completely aligned in overcoming the number one challenge. Is there a solid senior management team process where they come together, set targets, share data, issues, concerns, track performance and hold each other accountable?
What does the senior team see as the number one challenge? What is the number one goal of the senior team? The one that above all else matters most to the entire enterprise. The one that when achieved takes the organisation demonstrably forward to achieving its long term objective(s).
Has the discussion been had within the team to agree what the number one challenge is? Have the team agreed exactly what is to be done by who by when and measured how? A proper focused plan that is owned and is being executed on a daily basis with progress measured - rigorously and timely. Is there an effective senior team process in place?
I expect that a high performing senior team will agree clearly exactly what the challenges are that need to be overcome and then make a plan to overcome that/those challenges and agree an accountability and review process. In particular:
- Who will undertake what activities in agreed timeframes
- What the reporting back to the group will be in the way of data (individual score cards that track lead and lag indicators.) To be clear lead indicators are activities and lag indicators are results.
- Have a rigorous weekly meeting at which progress against goals is monitored, new issues raised, and course corrections agreed.
- Rigorous does not mean aggressive or angry, it means open, clear, working together in pursuit of a common goal in a very energetic manner, holding each other accountable to high standards of performance. It is candid and constructive- truth without rancour.
- It is the ultimate psychologically safe environment where people speak up freely and contribute their best ideas and express concerns easily and openly. They know that their ideas and contribution count and is valued by their colleagues and they have a clear common purpose which they are united in achieving.
In many emerging enterprises the sales function is undercooked. Many CEOs I have worked with complain that they hire salespeople, pay a lot of money for them and they never work out. My view is that this is again a process issue. The CEO and team need to take the time to implement a great sales process. I find when this is done well then, guess what, those previously useless salespeople actually perform well.
The following are some questions designed to stimulate thinking
- What does the sales management process look like and what sales data is tracked and examined in the sales team by individuals then in their weekly sales meeting and then in the weekly executive meeting?
- Does the business have a sales plan?
- Does each member of the sales team have their own sales plan?
- Does this plan include targets for sales activities and results as well as individual tactics that are employed?
- How much coaching from the head of sales to individual sales team members?
- What is the calling schedule for the manager to accompany individual members- for the purpose of coaching, training and closing?
- How are pipeline activities measured?
- How many prospects at what part of the sales pipeline?
- How many are needed at each step?
- How defined is the sales funnel? How much of this rigorous system is in place and used actively as part of the management system?
"It is in the CEO's court to ensure that these processes are in place and working smoothly. If they were working well, it is highly unlikely that there will be significant issues with sales. I believe that these priorities should be set and agreed by the executive team- who all own it. It’s part of the leadership process orchestrated by the CEO."
- Is the executive team having the right conversations, engaged in the right process and are being welded into an effective team that will drive the business forward strongly with the right focus energy and drive, done in the right, constructive, way?
My further belief is that the only solution is performance and that is what this note is all about. Process, energy, building an effective high-performing team that works through effective processes at the top of the business that has a habit of winning, by defining clear goals and doing the things required together to hit them.
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Looking to drive performance from the top then reach out for a conversation? Please contact: ianneal@impactful-leaders.com.au
