In today's market, unlocking the potential of the Senior Leadership Team could be the difference between recovering a sustainable and profitable growth trajectory, or languishing in arduous stagnation.

 In tough trading conditions, as leaders, I believe we can be forgiven for instinctively gravitating towards hard, technical skills as we aim to drive performance. When the heat is on, priorities will be shaped by processes, tools and data. “Stick” may also prevail over “Carrot” as leaders seek to increase productivity and reduce the P&L drag of serial underperformers. This approach is not necessarily wrong if it forms part of a broader approach and it’s entirely appropriate to set minimum standards consistently across a sales floor. But do you want your revenue generators full of fright, or fight? I believe that the latter is eminently more powerful and that finely tuned soft skills can deliver it.

 The SLT sets the standards, the pace, the example, the environment and the culture required for high performance. As a genuine team, rather than a collection of leaders, they are the “secret sauce” for a growth-orientated business. When nurtured, they’re better together; the diversity of their input and their complementary strengths ensure that this team is stronger than the sum of its parts. This unit can tangibly impact a capital valuation, providing succession, consistency and an assurance of future performance. In short, they can turn the founder’s vision into reality.

 So, whether you’re building and developing a leadership team, or perhaps hoping to join this exclusive club, here are some individual traits that I’ve witnessed first-hand within stronger teams, across multiple businesses.

• Enhanced EQ
• Emotional intelligence builds relationships and nurtures self-awareness. An inquisitive mind enhances influence through active listening and genuine curiosity
• Getting a grip on one’s own emotional state is integral to absorbing pressure, making incisive decisions and prioritising tasks accordingly. Crucially, it also enables a consistent communication experience for others
• An appetite for understanding alternative perspectives will increase the potential for influence and extend it upwards, an absolute imperative for successful SLT members – for more context on this click here: The most underrated skill for emerging leaders?
• Strong EQ will also increase the probability of having the “right” conversation at the right time; when to Manage, when to Lead; when to blend in compassion and when to strip back dilution on a message that needs to have impact

• Driven Mindset
• Leadership within our sector is typically a rollercoaster. So, any aspiring SLT member should have a clear, burning Purpose to the extent that the risk of losing it triggers another level of inner ferocity – think, lions protecting their cubs
• Business as Usual is not sexy to those that perform and deliver consistently at this level. The default attitude should be built on a growth mindset and the potential for wealth creation that comes with it – Lifestyle businesses will not retain and, frankly, wil not need an alpha leadership team
• Creativity; team members should have an innate desire to try new initiatives, take risks and solve challenges collaboratively. They explore and embrace potential catalysts for progression such as emerging tech, or new processes; this can be more challenging for those who become institutionalised with long tenures in one company
• They have grit to the point of stubbornness. They are never beaten, always standing shoulder to shoulder with other SLT members and, consequently, they will be demanding of each other and others; a wise man once said to me: “we cross the line together, or not at all”

• Commercially aware
• They build stuff by pivoting, or launching new markets, objectively assessing new opportunities, building a compelling plan and gaining internal commitment to launch and deliver
• Their objectives are always crystal clear, ambitious, aligned and shared
• They enjoy client interaction, exploring their commercial priorities as peers
• They provide reliable forecasts, projecting not to please, but to plan
• Their decisions are data driven and consistently based on the needs of the business, not individuals within it

• Invested Coach
• They care about the development and success of others and remain accountable for their performance; the emphasis is on “us” rather than “me”
• They hire responsibly and with a view getting a financial return – not as a trial
• They develop future leaders. This is perhaps the most underrated attribute in any senior leader. At its heart, is the ability to generate scale, succession, consistency, loyalty and create an environment that delivers high performance and value
• They welcome a second pair of eyes to help them improve

 In reality, individuals will have a weighted blend of these traits and the goal for a CEO in assembling and nurturing a high-performance Senior Leadership Team is to capitalise on the current and potential strengths of individuals to gain comprehensive, complementary skills coverage across the team. For the most part, hard skills can be learned and developed. Soft skills are more subtle, can be harder to identify and require patience to develop. This is probably why it is such a tough path on which to consistently excel.

 Invest in this team, nurture and challenge it. The rewards for the business, employees and shareholders will be tangible, as will the career fulfilment for those that are part of the journey.