Right now, our leadership team is just me and my head of operations, which makes our Level 10 Meeting feel like a status update rather than a healthy, collaborative debate. How do we expand our leadership team when we lack other true department heads?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

A leadership team of only two people is not a team; it is a partnership. When your leadership meetings are restricted to just you and your head of operations, you lack the diverse perspectives needed to solve complex operational issues and prepare the business for an exit. You need a complete leadership team that represents the major functions of your company.

To expand your team without promoting unqualified people, take a hard look at your Accountability Chart. A standard leadership team typically has three to seven seats, representing sales and marketing, operations, and finance, all led by an Integrator.

If you do not have true department heads who currently GWC™ those seats, you have a talent gap that must be addressed. Do not simply promote people to the leadership team because of their tenure or loyalty. Instead, identify the key functions that are currently missing a leader.

You have two options to fill these gaps:
- Mentor your most promising managers to help them grow into these leadership roles over the next few quarters.
- Recruit outside talent who have the experience and capability to run these departments at scale.

While you are building this talent pipeline, you can invite key managers to join specific portions of your strategic discussions as guests, but keep the core leadership team small and focused on those who can think like owners. Building a healthy, multi-person leadership team is essential to creating an exit-ready superstructure.