3 Types of Executive Team Dysfunction

Episode notes

CEOs get a ton of credit or blame for a company's performance. But the entire leadership team is vital to success, and any dysfunction is often overlooked. Sometimes the CEOs leading them don't even see that they're not working. Thomas Keil , management professor at the University of Zurich, and Marianna Zangrillo , a partner at The Next Advisors, have interviewed more than 100 CEOs and senior executives. Their research identifies three main types of failing leadership teams: shark tanks , petting zoos , and mediocracies . And they identify the pitfalls of each pattern and how to turn those teams around. Keil and Zangrillo wrote the HBR article " Why Leadership Teams Fail ." Key episode topics include: leadership, teams, strategy execution, decision making and problem solving, managing people, change management Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: " Dysfunctional Leadership Teams - and How to Fix Them " Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at hbr.org