Why the Strength of Your Leadership Team is Key to Your Success as a CEO

As a CEO advisor, one of the first areas I focus on with my clients is their leadership team. A strong leadership team is crucial for a CEO's success, and in my experience, there is a direct correlation between the strength of a leadership team and a CEO's ability to deliver results. In this post, I want to share a simple framework for evaluating whether a CEO has the right leaders in place.

First, senior leaders should be aspirational. They should be people that others want to emulate and who have the experience and credibility to lead the company to where it wants to go. Additionally, they should be talent magnets, attracting the best and brightest to their team. They should also have the ability to leverage their team to make the CEO more effective and efficient, and ultimately, they should deliver results.

To evaluate your leadership team, consider the following questions:

• How confident are you in this leader? In which areas are you most and least comfortable?
• Does this leader demonstrate clear domain knowledge and mastery over their discipline?
• Is this a leader you would work for?
• What has happened with the recruiting, retention, and growth of the team since this leader joined?
• What evidence do you see that this leader is bringing strong talent to the company?
• Is the leader's team stronger than it was before they joined?
• Is this leader fully up and running? Do they fully own their organization and its results?
• Does the leader come to you to solve issues that you believe they should be solving themselves?
• Does the leader make you move faster or slow you down?
• Does this leader consistently do what they say they will do? Do you believe in their ability to deliver on goals?
• Is that delivery systematic and predictable or does it rely on luck or heroics?

Ultimately, a strong leadership team is essential for a CEO's success. By evaluating your leadership team using this framework, you can ensure that you have the right people in place to deliver results.