5 strategies to overcome unique challenges faced by Fortune 500 leaders
What’s really holding your executive team back?
Have you ever looked around the executive table and wondered, “With all this talent, why aren’t we achieving more—together?”
While the Fortune 100 shape headlines, the rest of the Fortune 500 are crucial to economic stability, innovation and social norms. These middle giants power 50% of the US GDP, are large employers, operate across borders and are deeply embedded in B2B ecosystems. Many are scaling through acquisitions.
As a leader in these executive teams, you face unique challenges: integrations, competing product lines, global vs. regional demands, entrenched systems that resist innovation, and layered communication that blunts executive influence.
These complex challenges can be unlocked by cohesive executive teams. Too often, teams avoid hard conversations, make assumptions about accountability, and get stuck in clashes and either-or thinking.
Our work with executive teams achieves what’s truly at stake—organizational success, personal well-being, cultural impact, and even relevance. Quick fixes and metrics aren’t enough. Real progress comes from shifting mindsets and strengthening relationships at the top.
Here are 5 proven strategies we use to build more cohesive executive teams:
Co-create a simple, shared “Leadership Playbook.” Define the shared purpose of the executive team, its strategic priorities, and team norms-in writing.
Identify what’s tricky right now from the perspective of each person in the executive team. Once it’s named, you have a better chance of addressing the issue, whether you like to hear it or not. Start working through the list one conversation at a time.
Find the team’s vision. Ask: "If anything were possible–what do you wish were different for this team?" You’ll be surprised how aligned the answers often are. From there, shift the collective mindset to match the vision.
Collect the team’s 1st ideas to get there. 1st ideas get your team thinking about forward-moving action without the constraints of a fully baked plan.
Exit a blocker from the team. Sometimes, one person holds the whole team back. They’re a great person, they have special expertise, or something that makes them feel indispensable, but if they’re not bought into the vision or collaborating with the team, they are eroding progress. Have the courage to make this gut-wrenching decision. One executive team we worked with exited a visionary behind a critical product who owned key relationships, but had been steering the team in a direction that didn't align with their instincts. Exiting this leader allowed the team to finally come together and execute the strategy that led to achieving 1.6x the initial valuation.
Turning impact to intention
When teams take the time to clarify what’s at stake, create a shared play book, have the courage to name what’s tricky, and make gut-wrenching decisions your team will shift. They move from working in parallel to working in partnership. From managing around each other to leading with each other to shape the future.
What’s one conversation your executive team has been avoiding—and what might shift if you did?
Want to explore what a custom team playbook could look like for your leaders? Lets connect.