6 Signs of Dysfunction on the C-Suite Team—and What to Do About It (Part 1)

CEOs tell us that one of their toughest tasks is to assess and develop their C-suite team. And when they look back, their biggest regret is waiting too long to do it.

“What no one tells you before you become a CEO is how hard it is to manage your C-suite team. You’ve got this group of very impressive people with long lists of accomplishments, and yet getting them to truly work together and share accountabilities is incredibly difficult.”

One of our CEO clients shared this about the performance of his team. At the time, we’d just shared some new data from our CEO Leadership Report showing that CEOs lose confidence in their C-suite teams over time.

It sparked something in him, and much of our work together is aimed at tackling the challenges of leading the C-suite. How, he asked, can such a stellar group of individuals struggle so much as a team?

This is an increasingly common topic among all of us as DDI executive coaches, and we’ve recently begun to investigate further. What is happening in the C-suite that holds teams back? What are the early signs of dysfunction? And what can CEOs do to address challenges before it’s too late?

What CEOs Think of Their C-Suite Teams

As we summarized themes across CEOs and their C-suite teams, here’s what they told us:

·        It’s very difficult to quickly understand the team. One CEO shared that evaluating the strength of his senior team is one of his most difficult and ambiguous tasks. It takes time, and it’s easy to overestimate strength until there’s been ample opportunity to see how teams translate priorities into action (or don’t). His perception of the strength of his team changed “almost 180 degrees” in the first year. And he was hired from inside the company.

·        Plan for the “honeymoon” to end. Another CEO described “a honeymoon period," and more importantly, that it was only after that period that he truly understood the team he had working for him. Having joined from outside, he thought he had a good read of the team’s capability. But after six months, he came to learn that he had significantly overestimated them. When he started, he anticipated changing one to two players. But by the time he reached his third year, he had moved or replaced every player but one.

·        The stronger the players, the harder it can be for them to work together. A third CEO said this: “I have the best leaders in the business. If I could only get them to work together.” Most executives make it to the C-suite with one main thing in their past: success. Often their individual achievements cause them to form strong beliefs and habits. But in the C-suite, these preconceived notions often need to take a back seat so that accountabilities and assignments can be aligned in ways that create change and progress across the entire organization. Many C-suite executives don’t expect to have to collaborate and adjust as much as is required at the top, and few CEOs are equipped with the skills to facilitate and steer a team of superstars toward a unified direction.

·        No team will stay effective long-term without a shock to the system. A fourth CEO, nearing retirement, reflected on the major business transformation his organization had undergone. His reaction was simple. He felt that five years is a long time, and that most teams can’t stay effective for that long if they don’t change significantly (and most don’t, he added). At times it is necessary for CEOs to jump-start the system by creating change that startles leaders into new ways of creating momentum and action.

One shared perception among all the CEOs was that taking an accurate pulse of team strength should be a top priority from day one. The moment the team starts to fall apart, you lose your effectiveness as a CEO.

In some cases, problems stem from underperforming individuals, for which the remedies are more straightforward. But more often, small dysfunctional team dynamics grow into significant team performance problems. Rarely does this rise to the level of public drama (although certainly it can). More often, there are subtler cues that a team is devolving into dysfunction.

6 Signs of Dysfunction in the C-Suite

As we talked with CEOs and CHROs, we found six common signals that often indicate deeper challenges with the effectiveness of their C-suite teams:

1. Unexpected Departures

As the Great Resignation hit the C-suite, we’ve seen a lot more churn than usual. While a small amount of turnover can help bring in new ideas, some C-suites are seeing so much turnover that it’s disrupting team trust and continuity. This is particularly disruptive when no one sees it coming.

2. Siloed Focus

Many C-suites operate much more as a group of individuals focused on their own goals, rather than as a team with shared goals and accountabilities. They are determined to hit their metrics, regardless of what’s happening outside of their part of the organization. While individual performance is high, CEOs struggle to move the needle on overall company performance.

3. Stagnating Performance

We hear from a lot of CEOs that it’s not that their teams are underperforming per se, but they just have no momentum for innovation and change. This can happen for a lot of reasons – exhaustion, a large portion of the executive team nearing retirement, stuck in old ways of doing things, etc. But it’s a quick path to becoming obsolete.

4. Tenuous Trust

We’ve seen this happen many, many times in C-suites: A few people (usually with the highest titles) do all the talking. No one disagrees with them. But as everyone leaves the room, nobody is really on board. But they don’t trust one another enough to share candid – but crucial – feedback, concerns, and ideas. They’re too afraid of how others will react. As a result, progress is extremely slow.

5. New Guard vs. Old Guard

In line with the rapid turnover we’re seeing, a lot of C-suites are experiencing pain as the new members clash with long-tenured executives. The new executives are often eager to prove their value, and quickly make changes. Meanwhile, experienced members of the C-suite may feel that proposed changes are a direct criticism of their leadership, and may not respect executives who are newly promoted or new to the business and industry. These tensions can lead to dramatically different views and priorities around the company’s vision and direction.

6. Distanced Disconnect

Just like everyone else, many C-suites are feeling the strain of remote work on their teams. While in some companies (especially multinationals) executives are used to collaborating from a distance, other executives have depended on face-to-face interactions to build their relationships. As fewer companies are requiring their executives to be headquartered in a single location, some C-suites are deeply feeling the disconnect.

At this point, we've covered all six signs of dysfunction in the C-suite team. In our next article, let's take a look at what can we do about it.

Learn more about how to build a strong C-suite team in our webinar, Your 3-Year Plan: Developing Your C-Suite Team.

DDI's Executive Services provides succession, coaching, and assessment services that help leaders succeed from their first executive role until they reach the boardroom. Our suite of services are specially designed to manage risk at the top. Our experts have deep experience working with boards of directors, CEOs, and executive teams to create sound, data-driven succession plans. At DDI, our executive consultants have decades of experience helping leaders successfully make the leap into senior-level roles. We help them thrive both as individuals and as teams.

Services include CEO, C-Suite, and Executive Succession; Board Services; Executive Coaching and Development; Executive Selection and Assessment; and Senior Team Effectiveness.