SPECIAL COLLECTION Effective Executive Teams Collaborating to accelerate social impact Spring 2019 Table of Contents Introduction .....................................................................................................................................................3 Increasing Nonprofit Executive Team Effectiveness ........................................................................ 4 Deep Dives How to Lead High-Performing Nonprofit Executive Teams ......................................14 How to Define the Work of Nonprofit Executive Teams .............................................16 How to Optimize Nonprofit Executive Team Composition .......................................20 How to Lead Effective Nonprofit Executive Team Meetings .................................... 22 How to Support Effective Dynamics in Nonprofit Executive Teams ..................... 23 How to Integrate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into Everyday Operations ..... 27 EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVE TEAMS: SPECIAL COLLECTION Introduction Over the past two decades, The Bridgespan Group has had the privilege of working with hundreds of nonprofit organizations to help them amplify and accelerate their strategic clarity and organizational effectiveness. Through this work we have come to deeply appreciate the role that executive teams play in the effectiveness and efficiency of their organizations. It takes shared leadership, responsibility, brain-power, and diversity of perspectives and experiences to make and execute on thoughtful, well-informed organization- wide decisions, and monitor progress and course correct as needed. Simply put, the effectiveness of the executive team has a profound effect on the overall effectiveness of the organization. So the stakes are high and even if you think your executive team is already strong, there’s significant upside to improving its performance. In the pages that follow, we look at the different priorities, expectations, systems, and behaviors that can improve executive team performance. We also share a number of experts’ perspectives, offering deep dives across critical elements of effective executive teams: how to lead a high- performing team, set the right priorities for its work, optimize its composition, lead effective meetings, support effective team dynamics, and finally, embed diversity, equity, and inclusion into its work. Regardless of an organization’s size or stage of growth, this special collection offers practical advice, tactics, and tools for getting the most from the work executive team members do together. EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVE TEAMS: SPECIAL COLLECTION 3 Increasing Nonprofit Executive Team Effectiveness By: Libbie Landles-Cobb, Henry Barmeier & Kirk Kramer Leading any enterprise is a challenge, team’s performance as “good,” or a three out especially for organizations growing in size of a possible four on overall effectiveness. and complexity. The job readily expands But good isn’t necessarily good enough. beyond the capacity of any single leader. The upside potential of more effective That’s why CEOs of many nonprofits CEO leadership, more clarity around the establish executive teams—groups of work of the team, and more productive senior leaders who work together to chart team interactions can yield big gains for the organization’s direction and keep it on an organization—something we’ve seen track toward its goals. at Bridgespan in our work over 15 years with hundreds of nonprofits. In short, the Shaping a high-performing executive team is challenge is to advance from good to great.1 no easy task. Bridgespan’s research reveals that most nonprofits falter when it comes Our survey results came as no surprise to executive team effectiveness. Only a to leadership coaches we interviewed. quarter of the 362 executive team members “Executive teams are an underperforming responding to a recent Bridgespan Group asset,” says consultant and leadership diagnostic survey “strongly agreed” that expert Peter Thies, president of The their CEO effectively addresses team River Group. “It’s a huge investment and dynamics and performance challenges. opportunity cost whenever you have top Only 19 percent strongly agreed that their executives spending time together, yet team focuses on the right work, and just 17 executive teams tend to provide the fewest percent strongly agreed that they use their tangible results among leadership teams.” executive team meeting time well. Nonetheless, the survey also showed that Who Needs an Executive roughly half of the respondents rated their Team? Most nonprofit CEOs have a set of direct reports that meet regularly. At the most Libbie Landles-Cobb and Kirk Kramer are basic level, this group shares departmental partners in The Bridgespan Group’s Leadership information and receives updates from Practice and are coauthors of “The Nonprofit the CEO about recent decisions. While the Leadership Development Deficit,” SSIR.org, direct reports comprise a group of senior October 22, 2015. Henry Barmeier is a manager managers, they do not necessarily work in Bridgespan’s San Francisco office. together as a team. The authors thank Bridgespan colleagues Rachel By contrast, an executive team takes on tasks Heredia, Nathan Lazarus-Gardner, Leslie MacKrell, that stand apart from the work individual Preeta Nayak, Micaela Owen, Bob Searle, and members do as department heads. An Roger Thompson for their contributions. EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVE TEAMS: SPECIAL COLLECTION 4 executive team collaborates to shape Our research is informed by and builds upon organization-wide decisions and shares the leadership and team-building work of responsibility for the organization’s results. others to address the singular needs of nonprofit executive teams.2 Our survey, Not all nonprofits need an executive team a diagnostic self-assessment, received that performs such work. For example, responses from 362 nonprofit executive small nonprofits may only require a group team members. In addition, we interviewed that meets regularly to share updates. The more than two dozen nonprofit leaders and decision to create an executive team rests an equal number of experts or coaches from on the size, complexity, and level of cross- academia and consulting. We also drew on organizational decision making required to our advisory experience in five cities with lead the organization. more than 200 nonprofit executive teams For nonprofits with an executive team, the participating in Bridgespan’s Leading for team’s effectiveness is essential for the Impact program, a two-year engagement organization’s success. But despite their that helps nonprofit executive teams importance, surprisingly little has been hone their management skills. Out of this written about them. In the for-profit arena, research, we distilled a sequence of five leadership experts have built an industry steps, framed as questions, that have around executive leadership development helped most executive teams increase their and team building, though with minimal focus overall effectiveness—even move from on executive teams. Nonprofit executive good to great. teams have gone virtually unnoticed. Five Questions to Guide an Effective Executive Team EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVE TEAMS: SPECIAL COLLECTION 5 1. Is the CEO Effectively Managing Lack of clarity or inconsistency here can the Executive Team? create problems for the team, such as when a CEO seems to guide a team toward The executive team is the charge of the a consensus decision only to exercise a CEO. As head of the organization, CEOs are pocket veto if the decision wasn’t what the accountable for results and responsible for CEO personally preferred. determining what the executive team must do to achieve those results. This played Many nonprofit CEOs lack the experience out in our survey, interviews, and in our to perform their role as executive team experience with clients: in high-performing leader. Nonprofit boards often prioritize executive teams, the CEO takes charge of external capabilities, such as fundraising the team’s form and function. or advocacy, over internal leadership skills when they search for CEO candidates. Specifically, these CEOs set expectations And even those who have strong internal and define the executive team’s work, capabilities are commonly stretched thin. steer meeting agendas, and support team As a result, it’s not surprising that only one members to grow while holding them in four survey respondents strongly agreed accountable for performance. Managing that their CEO addresses team dynamics the team does not require doing all of the and performance challenges in a timely day-to-day work of team coordination. and effective way. In fact, many CEOs choose to delegate certain tasks to a deputy or other executive Skillful team management makes a big team members, such as getting input on difference. The executive coaches we potential meeting agenda items. CEOs with spoke with agreed that CEO leadership strong team players can even delegate was the single most important factor in leadership roles by assigning individuals making teams highly effective. “The CEO as stewards for specific topics central to sets the tone for the executive team,” says the team’s work, such as diversity efforts, Leslie Bonner, an adviser to nonprofits and talent development, communications, or a leading expert on nonprofit leadership. budgeting. “If they don’t prioritize the team’s work or embody the productive behaviors However, effective delegation does not required to do that work, it is very difficult mean