The Importance of Maximizing Executive Performance (OPINION)

Members of your executive team touch each critical component of profitability in some way. That’s why they are your company’s strategic and economic engine. As they go, so goes your organization.

If they are passionate, growing and engaged, they are an unstoppable force. If they are apathetic, bored and dispassionate, your organization will never reach its potential.

While apathy may not exist on your executive team, statistics heavily favor the possibility that it does. Consider these horrifying findings from a 2013 Gallup study on the American workforce: only 36 percent of executives and managers are engaged, managers account for at least 70 percent of the variance in employee engagement and only 46 percent of managers know what their company stands for and how it differs from competitors.

Those three facts show us how severe the impact of executive disengagement can be on your company and employees. If they are disengaged and don’t understand your brand, how can they inspire employees and customers?

From my own experience, disengagement isn’t something you strive for as an executive. Rather, it creeps up on you in the form of boredom, repetition, lack of a gripping company vision, inconsistent leadership communication and limited growth opportunities.

Your talented executive team members want to do an amazing job for you, and be part of a winning team. They want an environment where they can spread their wings, creatively work and grow in their strengths, know that their leadership cares about them as people and have the opportunity to develop and mentor outstanding teams.

As the CEO and/or owner, this is the environment you need to create. And following these six guidelines can help you build that type of workplace:

Clearly define and communicate your corporate identity and strategy. The best CEOs I meet with develop a compelling identity with input from their teams, then unite their companies around it. Your executive team needs to hear this often and be united around it so they can enthusiastically pass it on to their teams.

Build your executive team into a real team, not just a committee that meets periodically. Many executive committee meetings are viewed as forced drudgery keeping because participants from their “real” teams. CEOs who make the executive committee the primary team gain better trust, alignment, and momentum.

Commit to being in the people development business. Every leader is in the people development business first and foremost, and that includes startup entrepreneurs. That is the only way to maximize your firm’s potential. Show your executives you care about them. Demonstrating your concern for them will help them stay engaged. To that end, one-to-one meetings are essential.

Create a high quality leadership development program. Some CEOs make the mistake of saying. “I want my executives already developed,” without understanding that development is a lifelong process. Keep your people growing with individual coaching, leadership workshops, and personalized development plans.

Challenge them with new assignments. What may have motivated someone earlier in their career may bore them today. Instead of having executives do the same old tasks, keep them fresh by putting them in charge of new initiatives such as product launches, new business units, or new technology investments.

Lead by example and have a growth plan for yourself. The five steps discussed above are only possible if you are growing yourself. Don’t get to the top and assume you have nothing else to learn. Your executives and company can only grow to your level of leadership skill, so you need to be engaged in your own development plan and be willing to share it with your team.

Your executive team is the key to your company’s growth and profitability. Keeping your executive team engaged and passionate produces many times more profitability and customer benefits than anything else you can do. Creating an environment that recognizes the importance of keeping them challenged should be your priority. If you are wary of committing to executive development, consider the opportunity cost of not doing it. How important is your profitability? 

Scott McClymonds is the founder of Fayetteville-based strategic consulting firm CEO Velocity. His expertise integrating leadership, strategic marketing and technology builds competitive advantages for his clients. Subscribers to this magazine can receive a free one-hour strategic marketing consultation and assessment by contacting him at [email protected], 479-263-0774, or LinkedIn.