The C-suite team: shared outcomes instead of competition between functions
The executive team must manage interdependencies: between product and sales, growth and liquidity, technology and people. These trade-offs cannot be contained within a single department.
A shared purpose needs clear roles
In McKinsey’s study of 28 leadership teams, role clarity, shared purpose, exchanging perspectives and the quality of interactions were associated with assessments of performance. For CEOs, the practical question is simpler: do executives understand the shared outcome they are responsible for, and who makes the decision when functional interests diverge?43
Transformations must share resources under common rules
KPMG’s 2026 research emphasises alignment across the company and the ability to coordinate change. Sequencing matters: first determine how roles and processes will work together, then scale the technology. A large number of initiatives does not, by itself, mean progress.19
Roles need alignment, not just titles
The CEO sets priorities and resolves conflicts between them; the CFO tests the economics; the business process owner is responsible for the customer outcome; the technology leader owns the platform; HR owns roles and capabilities; and the risk function owns controls. Job titles may differ. What matters is having one clear owner for each outcome.
Turn a group of functions into a team
The executive team does not exist to report to the CEO every week. Its job is to resolve together a few issues for which no individual director has the full picture: the cost of growth, product speed versus reliability, and people versus short-term savings. Patrick Lencioni describes a sequence from trust and constructive conflict to commitment, mutual accountability and collective results. The CEO must personally allow disagreement before a decision and prevent repeated challenges afterwards.4351
Give the team rules for working together
Create a short contract: three shared outcomes, a list of decisions reserved for the executive team, a way to prepare for discussion, the right to escalate and rules after a decision. Separately check that functional KPIs do not force executives to win at each other’s expense. In McKinsey’s research, role clarity and the quality of interaction are associated with assessments of leadership-team effectiveness. Test changes through real decisions: has the time between problem and choice shortened, are there fewer hidden conflicts, and does the team see the collective result?43
Inside the CEO practice
Choose three cross-functional outcomes for the quarter. For each, create a short team mandate: what must change, which decisions the team makes, which resources it receives and which issues it escalates. Check that executives’ personal incentives do not conflict with the shared outcome.
Questions before a decision
- Which outcome is everyone responsible for, but ultimately no one owns?
- Which two KPIs push executives to work against each other?
- Who can move people between priorities without a month of approvals?
Sources
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