When all is said and done, an executive board or management
board are, in essence, a team. For any team leader, the easiest team to build
and lead is the one in which all team members naturally get on well with one
another. Shared likes, dislikes, views and interests ease the process of
establishing rapport and building relationships with reduced likelihood or
disagreement and argument. However, effective teams not only need individual
members to support one another they also need to be able to challenge one
another robustly in order to support one another more effectively.
Unlike lower
order teams, where the primary collective output may be more a matter of (say)
physical support and or co-operation and or co-ordination, a primary function
of executive and senior level management boards is collective decision making.
At this level, the phenomena of ‘Group Think’ should be at the forefront of any
leader’s mind who is constructing a team at this level, or indeed, at any level
where collective decision making is a primary function of the team. The
strength of group thinking around problem solving and decision making is that
many individual perspectives and strengths can be brought to bear on the issues
requiring resolution. A problem examined and scrutinised from multiple points
of view drawn from a range of subject matter specialists should enable or
facilitate a more substantial and robust solution.
Broadly,
Group Think as a decision making and judgement phenomena is where consensus has
primacy and prevails over individual thoughts and judgements. In essence, this
is when the power of the association with belonging to the group weighs greater
in the individuals conscious and subconscious than personal perspectives,
thoughts and knowledge. The effect is individual team members normalise their
views to that of the collective. Great for harmony and all concerned,
especially a strong leader; no arguments and total buy in to what the leader
proposes. However; what if the leader’s knowledge and judgement is lacking? How
robust is a solution likely to be and what is the likely quality of decision
making to be when wrought in such circumstances?
The leader
forming an executive or senior management board made up of strong willed,
confident and articulate individuals with knowledge, skills and views not
shared by him or herself requires significant leadership qualities, not least
of all courage and resilience. To drive a business or organisation in the right
direction with extremely high personal and collective stakes is difficult and
stressful; to expect and want robust challenge in order to do so more
effectively is even more difficult and stressful. Given the business
environment of today – which is likely to fair better? Those ‘the birds of a
feather’ who will undoubtedly get along famously as they crash together, or the
bloodied and battered ‘band of brothers’ who invariably emerge stronger and
better equipped to deal with life’s most difficult challenges?
