Spencer Stuart: Changing Places: What Functional Leaders Can Learn from One Another

As executives in finance, marketing, IT, legal, HR, and supply chain move into senior roles, they tend to develop distinct skill sets, vocabularies, mindsets, and styles. These distinct styles can prevent leaders from learning useful ideas from one another. In a recent report, Spencer Stuart examines what functional leaders can learn from other areas and provides advice for integrating diverse perspectives to improve individual and team performance. 

The first step is getting past the stereotypes to see functions in a new light whether that is by changing roles or learn from other functional leaders.  The report sets out the following actionable recommendations for leaders:

• Understand and tap the diverse strengths and ideas of different disciplines. Appreciating the unique perspectives and capabilities that other functional and business leaders bring to the table – and tapping their expertise—is a good way to start breaking down barriers.
• Clearly articulate the contribution of each discipline in the larger business vision. The CEO sets the tone for the collaboration by articulating the vision and demanding business metrics and performance objectives for functions and business units that are linked by the shared vision.
• Establish clear frameworks. A key to effective collaboration is setting clear frameworks that lay out who is responsible for making certain decisions and who has the right to contribute or veto a decision.

To read the full report, click here.