We realized our leadership team consists entirely of harmony-seeking, consensus-driven profiles, which makes us slow to make hard decisions. How do we balance our team's behavioral profiles using tools like the Culture Index?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A leadership team comprised entirely of harmony-seeking, consensus-driven profiles will slowly steer your company into polite stagnation. While a cooperative culture is pleasant, you need driving, analytical, and risk-tolerant traits on your executive team to push growth and make hard decisions.

To fix this imbalance, start by administering a behavioral assessment tool, such as the Culture Index, to your entire leadership team. Analyze the collective profile of your team. You will likely see a heavy concentration of profiles that prioritize social harmony and consensus over task execution and speed.

Use this data to define the ideal behavioral profile for your next leadership hire. For example, if you are hiring a Head of Sales or a VP of Operations, search specifically for individuals who score high in autonomy, drive, and analytical decision-making. You need someone who is comfortable with constructive conflict and willing to challenge the status quo.

In the meantime, establish structured operational constraints to force your current team out of their comfort zone. Implement a strict time limit for discussing issues in your Level 10 Meeting™ before a decision must be made. If the team is deadlocked, the Integrator must step in and make the final call immediately, rather than letting the debate drag on for weeks.

Acknowledge your team's natural bias for consensus, and actively invite healthy debate by assigning a rotating devil's advocate role during strategic planning sessions to ensure all sides of an issue are challenged.