When today’s business headlines highlight the “titans” of business over time, they tend to focus on the individual’s specific creative brilliance, boldness (or brashness), strategic insight on the future, etc.  In addition, most biographies of these business leaders have the same consistent theme on these seemingly needed behaviors.

For today’s senior executives and top talent that are in execution mode leading business units and teams in the trenches today, there are a whole different set of behaviors that typically provide the content written on performance reviews and mentioned during everyday face to face interactions.  These behaviors are the essential skills that are needed to build a healthy culture and sustain top performance over the long haul.

As organizations build a bench of talent to contribute to the business over time and senior executives look to strengthen their own teams, here are a few of those essential behaviors that are highlighted most often:

• No need to claim all the credit. Effective executives and top talent don’t need to ensure their impact on the genesis of an idea or the execution of a task is highlighted for everyone to recognize.  They are very comfortable with, and frankly would prefer, that others gain some recognition for the work as they know their contributions ultimately are about supporting the team to achieve its objectives and it is not all about them.
• Accept and physically feel the responsibility of a disappointing outcome. Whether it is a poor customer experience, quarterly revenue that is below performance, or a special project that did not meet its deliverables, effective executives and top talent accept responsibility for a disappointment and feel it physically in their stomachs, joints and heads. They know it is a team effort, but in times of disappointment, they take responsibility more than others. The pain they feel is not in a psychologically unhealthy way, but it is in the practical reality that the weight of responsibility is heavy and felt when an outcome is disappointing.  
• The value of interdependence vs the lone wolf. Although the headlines of the business section are full of stories of how great individuals are to a business, effective executives and top talent see the greater value in teams that are interdependent on each other to leverage diverse strengths as oppose to the one person that has the skills to champion the cause. Interdependence driven through diverse teams is a hallmark of healthy company cultures.

As we look to build and sustain a healthy culture along with top business performance, the business news headlines can be deceiving. It is important for leaders to recognize the underlying essential behaviors that deliver over the long haul.

What if I were to ask you, “What is the most difficult leadership challenge you are facing today?” What would you say?  Here are a few resources to help:

1. Download FREE resources at www.harvesttimepartners.com
2. Contact me. Email: david@harvesttimepartners.com (M) 269-370-9275

David Esposito