5 Tips for Creating Strong Leadership Teams
Effective leadership teams positively impact their employees, organizations and communities. Thirty percent of respondents to a 2025 Gallup poll named managers and organizational leaders as having the most positive influence on their daily lives. This figure is not far behind the 44% of respondents citing family members.
High-performing organizations can’t achieve their goals without collaboration, good communication and shared goals. An organization’s leadership team has to be on the same page from managers to executives, even as conditions change. Understanding what makes a leadership team effective is the starting point for recruiting and developing good leaders.
Characteristics of Great Leadership Teams
The size and composition of leadership teams vary greatly by organization. A small nonprofit, a mid-sized university, and an international corporation are unlikely to have the same type of leadership team. However, high-performing teams share traits regardless of industry or location.
Assembling a leadership team requires identifying personalities and skills that are complementary to each other. Successful leaders are self-aware about their strengths and weaknesses while showing the willingness to support their colleagues. Members of effective leadership teams are authentic in their professional relationships but humble enough to know they aren’t the only ones with answers.
Highly effective teams share common goals and keep their eyes on the future of their organizations. Leadership teams sharing the same vision or mission can solve problems with the long term in mind instead of pursuing short-term solutions. They also know to rely on the expertise of their managers and employees to carry out their vision.
A key challenge for leaders is keeping employees bought into their organizational vision. Gallup found that only 30% of surveyed workers strongly agreed they could connect their work directly to a larger mission or purpose. Highly effective teams frequently engage employees about their work, the organizational mission, and how leaders can support their efforts.
How to Build a Strong Leadership Team
Organizational and personnel changes may make it necessary to find new leaders for your team. With effective leadership traits in mind, creating a blueprint for building or restructuring a leadership team is possible. Here are five tips for creating effective leadership teams:
1. Identify the Right Team Size
Leadership teams can grow in time due to the promotion of promising employees and the pursuit of experts. Large teams complicate organizations’ efforts at collaboration and increase opportunities for interpersonal conflict. There is no magical formula for determining the right team size, but there are a few studies of what works for other organizations.
A Gallup study of three million teams determined that groups with up to 10 members maintain the highest engagement levels. Research by Table Group concluded that leadership teams with three to eight members are ideal because they effectively communicate. As an organization grows, it is possible to keep leadership teams small by delegating authority and creating new departments or divisions.
2. Recruit from Diverse Backgrounds
Organizations may be tempted to recruit leaders from similar backgrounds to their current executives or directors. This tendency makes it more challenging to innovate and change than if team members rely on varied experiences. Recruiting from diverse backgrounds encompasses gender, ethnicity, age, professional experiences, and education.
There is strong evidence that diverse leadership teams lead to better financial outcomes for organizations. A 2023 McKinsey report found that the most varied executive teams financially outperform the least diverse teams by 39%. This study of 1,265 companies saw a significant increase in performance from a 2015 report, reinforcing the outsized impacts of diverse teams.
3. Establish Beneficial Relationships within the Team
Executives, directors and senior managers may jostle for resources and decision-making power within organizations. Competition within a leadership team is natural but can quickly turn into conflict without intentional relationship-building. Highly effective teams turn retreats, one-on-one sessions and group meetings into opportunities for growth.
Beneficial relationships within the team are built through understanding each leader’s personality and communication style. Leaders can adapt their approach to each other and reduce tensions with this knowledge. Senior leaders should also reinforce organizational values and goals to keep their teams on the same page.
4. Be Mindful of Values Modeled to Employees
A Gallup survey of 30,000 adults worldwide identified “hope” and “trust” as the dominant words they attribute to the leaders with the most positive influence on their lives. Leaders in any organization can create hope and build trust by modeling positive values to their employees. It isn’t enough to publish mission statements and press releases; impactful leaders live these values daily.
The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) identified leadership traits that may help achieve this goal. Traits like vision, communication, respect and compassion can be demonstrated through conversations and community service projects. Leaders who exhibit these traits create positive workplace cultures and embolden future leaders.
5. Plan for Inevitable Leadership Changes
Assembling a great leadership team should not shut down the search for future leaders. PwC’s CEO Success Study found a median tenure of five years for CEOs worldwide, while nonprofit development directors stay in their jobs for 18 months on average. Ongoing succession planning prevents performance dips and costly searches for new leadership.
Major organizations conduct annual leadership reviews that evaluate internal options for promotion. They target high-potential employees for placement in roles with fast tracks to managerial or leadership positions. Best Practice Institute identified the following interventions in developing a bench of potential leaders:
- Rotating job assignments with exposure to leadership roles
- Leadership development training
- Professional and technical certifications
- Career development plans focused on future leadership positions
Impacts of High-Performing Leadership Teams
Leaders like you know it can be challenging to achieve buy-in for new products, services or initiatives without supporting data. There is considerable supporting data for the positive impacts of effective leadership teams on organizational success. Here’s how you can measure the long-term effects of good leadership:
The Bottom Line
It shouldn’t be too surprising that strong leadership leads to better financial outcomes for organizations. An organization with ineffective leadership is likely to miss opportunities for growth, neglect employee potential and squander resources. A study of a national mortgage lender by Zenger|Folkman provides one example of the difference between poor, good and exceptional leadership.
The study evaluated branch income within the context of 360-degree assessments by branch staff. The bottom 10% of branch managers averaged a net loss of -$1.2 million per branch compared to $2.4 million in profit for the middle 80% of managers and $4.5 million for the top 10% of managers. Functioning teams can lead to better financial outcomes, making a well-assembled leadership team vital to the bottom line.
A More Engaged Workforce
Employees who feel supported and believe in their work make it easier to achieve organizational goals. However, a Gallup survey of recent job-changers found that 51% of employed respondents were actively looking for new jobs. Forty-two percent of people who left their roles were open to staying but did not experience retention efforts by their managers or leaders.
Recent research by Gartner shows that the engagement issue extends to managers. The report found that 51% of managers held more responsibilities than they could effectively complete. Leadership teams that support their managers not only reduce the workload but increase employee engagement. Gartner determined that employees are three times more likely to stay in their roles and 15 times more likely to be high performers with effective day-to-day management.
You can learn how to lead an engaged workforce with a Doctor of Education (EdD). There are a growing number of EdD options out there but few that provide an entirely virtual but rigorous learning experience. Spalding University hits both of these marks with its Online EdD in Leadership.
Learn to be a Highly Effective Leader at Spalding University
Spalding University’s innovative program helps students take their careers and organizations to the next level. This 100% online degree can be completed in two years of full-time study. Graduates of the Online EdD program embody the qualities of an ethical and effective leader including empathy, innovation and effective communication.
Online EdD candidates complete 60 credits of coursework across 10 terms. Faculty members with leadership experience help students put leadership concepts into real-world contexts. Students learn how to be effective leaders during courses including:
- Global Leadership in Local and Transnational Contexts
- Leading Innovation and Creative Change Across the Organization
- Identifying and Analyzing Organizational Issues
Spalding University has modeled the leadership skills taught in its Online EdD for decades. The university was named the world’s first Compassionate University in 2011 and mobilizes students and faculty to serve their communities. Accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges & Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and a Best Regional University rank by U.S. News & World Report further cement Spalding University’s reputation for excellence.
Connect with an enrollment advisor today to learn how Spalding University can make you a more effective leader.
