All our emails are written by real humans. Sometimes, that human is Zoe Donaldson, who leads content and marketing at The Ready.
Below, Zoe reflects on this week’s podcast episode, which explores why your executive leadership team needs to hit the “Reset” button.
When your organization is facing a big transition, the team that needs to come together first is the executive leadership team. Am I mic-dropping a radical idea? No. It’s an obvious one. But history has shown us the ELT is often the last team to ask tough questions of itself and change how it operates to match the new needs of the business.
Given that a core ELT job is articulating what an org is trying to do, paying attention to how it decides and moves is important. Because an ELT trying to steer strategy without clear rhythms, clear routines, or a clear purpose is an ELT that's leaving value on the table. And that fracture doesn't stay put; the rest of the org slowly inherits the confusion.
The Ready’s been working with more ELTs, because having a high-functioning ELT gives you a competitive advantage. It sharpens your company's ability to execute on its strategy. Yet we cross paths with ELTs stuck in deep patterns that curb impact rather than light it up.
Every ELT is different, but the blockers we encounter cut across geographies and industries. They look like:
Missing priorities: Even when an ELT knows people are struggling to execute at pace, they still hand-wring about making trade-offs. When nothing feels safe to put down, you have less energy for the work that matters.
No clear decision rights:Sales and marketing point fingers. Growth and product hold grudges. When no one knows who can make the final call, decisions stall. Or they all ladder up to the CEO, which creates a bottleneck.
Heroic backstops:The ELT member equally capable of pulling off miracles or mopping up chaos is a temporary fix for an operational need. Don’t get that person an assistant. Make that pothole-filling job disappear.
These symptoms are exacerbated on ELTs where membership is more about repping your org’s agenda rather than guiding the entire company. This posture ("slice up the pie" vs. "steer the org") is insufficient when change is hurtling at you at asteroid speeds. It makes an ELT a group of fiefdoms instead of a first team.
Sometimes, your expertise in finance or marketing is needed in the room. That’s the function hat. But there’s also the ELT hat, and it’s the one you should wear more. It’s the one that commits your team to:
Playing a collective game
Doing what’s right for the business even/over doing what’s right for your function
Having sharp opinions about company strategy no matter your day-to-day role
If those accountabilities make you feel a little exposed, they’re the medicine you need. The world is only getting messier, so you need all hands and brains on deck to meet your challenges with clarity, creativity, and nerve.
Try this today:
Name your hat at the next ELT meeting. Before anyone weighs in, say which one you want in the room—the function hat or the ELT hat. It's a small move that clears up exactly what you need from people: an opinion, an answer, or room to think out loud.
