A high-performance team: identify, please: we asked three in-the-know executives what they would advise directors to look for in their top management team.

• Author: Guttman, Howard M.
• Position: PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

HOW CAN A BOARD of directors tell whether or not the top-management team is a high-performance one? "Financial results" is the short answer that most directors would likely give, and while few could argue with financial metrics as the key indicator of success, it is only one of many useful indicators. In today's complex, global, need-for-speed environment, how a team achieves its success is as important as what it accomplishes. As Everett Cook, managing director and cofounder of private equity firm Pouschine Cook, points out, "A company will not survive, much less flourish, without being open to innovation, to new ideas, and to the adaptation of best practices. And for that, it needs to operate horizontally rather than hierarchically, beginning with top management."

A high-performing team is a fully aligned entity that operates horizontally to achieve increasingly higher levels of results. There is fundamental agreement on the business strategy. Roles are clear and accountability is redefined to include peers holding one another--and the leader--accountable for results. Protocols are in place for decision making, conflict management, and team behavior. Relationships are transparent and avoid silo defensiveness. There is an unmistakable we-ness to how a high-performing team conducts itself.

To gain insight into the initial question we raised, we went straight to the horse's mouth: We asked three high-performing executives what they would advise directors to look for. Here are four questions to ask to determine whether your top management team is a high-performance one.

1. Does the CEO role-model high-performance behavior?

   Several years ago I was called in to coach the CEO of a major consumer goods company who was facing a potential threat. A board member had begun a private campaign for the CEO's ouster. My assessment was that the director was engaged in a passive-aggressive, underground game and that the CEO should steer clear of similar behavior.

   The CEO readily agreed. He opened the next board meeting by saying that there was an issue he wanted to put on the table for discussion. He told his board that he was getting the message that not everyone on the board was comfortable with the way he was leading. He said he wanted to know what his leadership would look like if he needed to make a shift: What was he doing right... and wrong?

   The result: The director who started the controversy was forced to the surface--to explain to the board and the CEO what his objections were.--Unconvinced, the majority of directors immediately voiced strong support for the CEO. End of discussion.

   This CEO role-modeled the willingness to openly and honestly confront issues that distinguishes a high-performance player. His board could...