1st Edition
The Next Leadership Team How to Select, Build, and Optimize Your Top Team
CEOs and organizational leaders are only as strong as the teams they build. And yet it is surprising how little practical advice there is for senior leaders on how to create, build, and optimize their teams. Step up The Next Leadership Team.
Illustrated with real-life examples from interviews with CEOs, C-Suite members, and headhunters throughout, The Next Leadership Team explains how senior leaders can improve the performance of their leadership teams by identifying clear team approaches, associated team member profiles, and by leading that team. These ideas are brought to life with case studies and interviews with well-known corporations such as ABB, Allianz, Amazon, AXA, Best Buy, Capita, Danone, Deutsche Telekom, Ferrari, Freudenberg, Haier, Hilti, HSBC, Holcim, Huawei, Logitech, Microsoft, Nestlé, Netflix, Nokia, Nordea, Schneider Electric, Tata, Wipro, and Zurich Insurance.
This book is an invaluable resource for CEOs and senior executives who need to build and develop leadership teams to drive success in the organizations they lead. It is also relevant to headhunters who are involved in the appointments of members of senior leadership teams.
Part I: Approaches to leadership teams and situational Cvnstraints 1. Approaches to leadership teams 2. Mapping the leadership team approach with situational constraints Part II: Selecting members to the leadership team 3. How to select leadership team members 4. Selecting team members for different leadership team approaches and situational constraints Part III: Building the team 5. How to initially build the leadership team 6. How leadership approach and situational constraints shape leadership team building Part IV: Optimizing performance 7. Optimizing leadership team performance over time 8. Optimizing performance for different leadership team approaches and in different situations 9. Designing the future of leadership teams
Biography
Thomas Keil is a professor at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, where he teaches strategy and international management, and partner at The Next Advisors.
Marianna Zangrillo is a corporate leader, business angel, investor, author, and partner at The Next Advisors.
"Full of real-life examples from CEOs on how to create, manage, and incentivize a leadership team, this is a handy book on an important subject: a good leadership team is vital to the success of a business."
Thierry Delaporte, CEO and Managing Director, Wipro
"A company’s success depends strongly on the leadership team’s qualities and on their effective interaction. Read this book to understand how to build a very effective team of managers and how to lead it to deliver the best results for your company."
Mario Greco, CEO, Zurich Insurance
"All eyes are usually on the top leaders. And top leaders' behavior is influenced heavily by the CEO. With the top team, it’s the same as with any great performing team, there needs to be trust as foundation and clarity on what is expected including the way of working. The CEO sets the tone, plays a critical role to build and shape the team for whatever purpose (transformation, stability, growth) and sets the direction for the team. If there is too much room for interpretation, no clear approach or the wrong players, things can easily deteriorate and eventually become counterproductive. Therefore the clarity and carrying out of leadership approach of every CEO is essential. This book helps with finding the right one and getting advice. A great practical guide."
Stephanie Werner-Dietz, Executive Vice President and global head of human resources, ArcelorMittal and former Chief People Officer, Nokia
"This work shows a valuable and flexible approach to leadership. It gets out of the one-size-fits-all, providing a practical and insightful guide on how to build the right leadership team to each individual situation."
Adel Al-Saleh, CEO, T-Systems and member of the management board, Deutsche Telekom AG
"Building successful leadership teams and structured succession planning must be a key focus of any executive, even more in the ever changing business environment. This book doesn’t only stress the importance, but also explains that it can and must be adapted to the specific business needs."
Herman Anbeek, President Europe, Americas and Middle East, gategroup
"Performance is all about achieving results through people. That is why this book is so crucial as it emphasizes the role of leadership in building high performing teams. It is written in a very pragmatic and down to earth way which makes it very appealing and easy to read."
Magdi Batato, Executive Vice President and head of operations, Nestlé
"For me, good leadership is all about people impact – because you, as a leader, have taken the genuine interest and time to understand what motivates, inspires, drives, concerns a person; I strongly believe in servant leaders, it’s what the world needs more of. And reading The Next Leadership Team has provided me with some great food for thought!"
Christophe Catoir, President, Adecco, member of the Executive Committee, Adecco Group
"I highly recommend this important contribution to the key subject of leadership teams."
Laurent Hebenstreit, former CEO Sogefi
"The Next Leadership Team is the second masterpiece of the two authors, which translates the commonly used buzzwords on leadership and governance into real business life and instead of presenting management theories, provides practical implementations in modified applications and procedures that can be handled in practice. Here the chair meets the practice and an excellent symbiosis appears."
Andreas Joehle, Partner Uffenau Partners and former CEO Hartmann AG
"CEOs and executives spend much of their time creating teams that can drive success in the organization. The Next Leadership Team is a valuable guide to doing so. Reading the book, I found many ideas and frameworks for my work and enjoyed reading the down-to-earth style and the examples from around the globe."
Jan Jenisch, CEO, Holcim
"Highly insightful book to challenge one’s own approach in building a winning leadership team."
Kai Konola, CEO, Halton
"Markets, competition, regulation etc. are always changing, slowly or quickly, fundamentally or gradually. To provide proactive responses is a permanent challenge. Therefore, composition and decision-making are of central importance for leadership teams."
Georg Müller, CEO, MVV Energie AG
"A profound and practical account of the view on executive leadership teams. Everything you need to know about selecting, building and optimizing high performing teams."
Dr. Stefan Nöken, Supervisory Board Member, former Member of the Executive Board of Hilti Corporation
"The time of lone wolves at the top is over. Collaboration, shared ownership and a strong sense of all employees winning together are essential to create sustained success. This book shows how it works."
Urs Riedener, former CEO, Emmi
"The Next Leadership Team gives a versatile insight how to build a competitive leadership team. I strongly recommend that you read this book."
Timo Ritakallio, President and Group CEO, OP Financial Group
"Keil/Zangrillo’s concept does not preach a one-size-fits-all leadership model. The leadership reality is complex and situational – they address this well."
Jacques Sanche, CEO, Bucher Industries
"Composing and evolving effective leadership teams is an art, to which this book provides a systematic framework. Personally, I believe in teams of strong individuals, willing to be stronger together – diverse in multiple dimensions, yet cohesive as a team"
Peter Terwiesch, President, Process Automation, ABB
"This book is a must-read for any leader who is being faced with major cultural changes or disruptive transformations affecting the whole leadership team. As a leader you find a wealth of practical answers to even those questions you might not have asked before. A great way to learn from other leaders' experience."
Heiner Thorborg, Headhunter
