MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Build the Right C-Suite Team for Your Strategy

CEOs can foster a more effective leadership team by understanding when to tap senior executives’ competitive instincts and when to encourage collaboration.

CEOs almost never go it alone: They rely on a strong senior management team to succeed. Yet new CEOs frequently contend with top leadership teams that are poorly aligned and consume energy rather than propel the organization forward. This makes building a well-functioning team one of their first and most important tasks.

Our research and experience suggest that the secret to establishing a good team lies in understanding and addressing a fundamental paradox of leadership. That is, the people who make it to the top are highly competitive and personally ambitious; but to be effective, they must also be able to collaborate for the good of the whole.

About the Author

Marianna Zangrillo is a partner at The Next Advisors. Thomas Keil is a professor and chair in international management at the University of Zurich. Benedetto Vigna is the CEO of Ferrari.

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