What is the most important role in the business?

At a recent retreat we asked a group of leaders to identify the most important role in their organisation. Two people ‘voted’ for the Chief Executive and then not surprisingly the rest chose a range of functional roles in Sales, Operations and Finance.

The reason for asking the question was to stimulate a discussion about the role that I am convinced is absolutely the most important. The Team Leader.

Why the Team Leader?

The vast majority of business initiatives require nimble teams that are skilled at their own technical tasks and also skilled in collaborating with others across the business (and outside). The Team Leaders sits right in the middle of that challenge.

Unfortunately, a significant percentage of team leaders are subject matter experts who understand the technical side of their role but have limited capability to develop their team and to connect it with others.

The result is a feature called ‘experts in silos’ and it is arguably the biggest threat to any organisation being nimble and adaptive.

Expect to see a much stronger focus on team leader capability and accountability in the next 1-2 years because the whole business is affected when one or two leaders ‘ring fence’ their functions and make it difficult for others to do their job.

Try this exercise:

Grab a black marker pen and draw separate circles on a whiteboard for every functional team in the organisation (including the Executive Team). Write the team’s name inside the respective circle.

Now pick up a red marker pen and colour in each team circle where the level of collaboration or partnering isn’t what’s needed to execute the strategy at speed.

Now ask yourself what damage that is doing in the organisation.

Develop those Team Leaders

When most organisations do this exercise they are confronted by the reality that their team leaders are not only equipped mainly to be technical leaders, but that the organisation reinforces this through its KPI’s and other recognition systems.

My view is clear and strong:  in a disruptive and rapidly changing world, the most important role in the organisation is the Team Leader (from CEO to Frontline) because they hold the opportunity (and the accountability) to mobilise and connect the teams that tackle the challenges that will make or break the business.