Strong leadership can make the difference between living out your organization’s mission and missing your goals. But the radical disruptions of the past few years have placed new demands on leadership — and companies must adapt to meet the needs of the modern workforce. As you set out to build your team, keep an eye to these five best practices to set your organization up to thrive.
1. Revisit Your Mission
Building a successful team calls for rallying leadership around your goal — so start building your leadership team by reflecting on your mission. Consider how your organization's goals may have changed after the transformation of the last few years, as well as the key objectives your organization will pursue in the future.
Set (or revisit) the short-, medium- and long-term goals you’d like your leadership to achieve, and consider which skills and expertise will be most important to your organization’s future success.
2. Identify the Skills You'll Need
An effective leadership team should be well-rounded, balancing vision and innovation with practicality, and traditionalism with risk-taking — and your goal-setting exercise will have identified the attributes most important to your growth.
As you prepare to build your team, consider the strengths your leadership already has in abundance and identify “gaps” that new recruits should fill. An experienced but traditional team, for example, might benefit from the fresh perspectives of a risk-taker, while an already-innovative team might benefit from a hire with deep industry expertise.
3. Craft Your Job Descriptions
Next, it’s time to distill your needs down into job descriptions. Identify the highest-priority, must-have skills you’ll need to advance your organization — the true “must haves” candidates need to perform in the role — but stay flexible on the “nice to haves” to attract a wide range of talent.
Stick to straightforward language that outlines the role’s tasks and responsibilities using gender-neutral terms, and avoid using slang or jargon in your description to help ensure it resonates with candidates across cultures.
4. Cast a Wide Net
Diversity in leadership can play a key role in your organization’s success. Diverse teams bring unique perspectives to the table,[1] which can spark innovation and help your organization connect with a broader client base.
Seek out diverse talent by leveraging job boards that serve candidates from traditionally marginalized backgrounds, and reduce bias in your hiring by reviewing applications with the candidates’ names removed. Ask each candidate the same set of interview questions, and create a standardized evaluation matrix so you can assess each applicant using the same set of criteria.
5. Set the Team Up to Succeed
Workplace culture can have a profound impact on the success of your leadership team, so cultivate an environment that allows each team member to thrive. Clearly communicate your expectations for the team, and instill a sense of purpose by clearly connecting the team’s day-to-day tasks to your organization’s larger mission.
Finally, keep your leadership engaged by involving the team in higher-level strategy sessions. You’ll not only empower each teammate to add their perspective, but you’ll keep the team engaged as you live out your mission.
