Conflict Among Senior Leaders

Conflict among senior leaders has long been documented as one of the most problematic issues for CEO’s. If you have leaders who aren’t always at their best, find out where they might need to adopt a new mindset.  Review the following list to see if you may need help evolving your senior leaders to a higher level of awareness.

Senior leaders who would benefit from growing their awareness might sometimes be seen as:

  • Isolating/withdrawing
  • Not asking for feedback from those who can tell you the difficult truth
  • Making decisions based on fears
  • Pleasing people (wanting to be liked/accepted at your own expense)
  • Being impatient
  • Demonstrating anger that is more than the situation calls for
  • Not forgiving
  • Not demonstrating gratitude for what you have
  • Loss of humor and playfulness
  • Distorting reality/turning a blind eye to important facts
  • Not synthesizing all the available data/facts into a good course of action
  • Missing key themes/patterns when making a decision
  • Forgetting to assess how people will be impacted and adjust accordingly
  • Failing to act because you fear failing
  • Winning at all costs — others get hurt
  • Not clearly understanding how others perceive you
  • Not being clear in your intentions

The 720° feedback allows a leader to see him or herself over time. The process begins with 360° feedback gathered from a supervising leader, direct reports, colleagues, and others (customers, suppliers, volunteers, other professional relationships). This first assessment (360°) is useful for setting a baseline and identifying clear leadership growth goals. Later, in six months to a year, the feedback can be collected again (720°) to measure progress. Ultimately you want leaders who think on a “higher level”, motivate and mobilize others, and create alignment between individual and group goals; focuses on driving thinking/behavior in others that reflects a concern for the collective good.

To inquire about the Awareness 20/20™, how we facilitate top management team events, or to purchase the assessment; contact info@executivecore.com.