Welcome to CEO Brain Food, a show aimed at providing key insights, fresh perspectives, and proven tools that CEOs can apply to build enterprise value, generate higher profits and develop the talent needed to succeed in their businesses.

Executive Summary

In this episode of CEO Brain Food, Michael breaks down the components necessary to lead high performing cohesive teams. Michael identifies the importance of hiring the right people, emotional intelligence, and being present as three key factors in developing high-functioning teams. Finally, Michael lists six crucial points for leading cohesive teams. These include having a set number of KPIs (key performance indicators), ongoing training, and decision-making authority, among others.

Episode Highlights

01:00 – Introducing today’s topic, Leading High Performance Cohesive Teams

03:50 – How the size of the team impacts its cohesive state

05:31 – Michael speaks to a leadership retreat he recently attended

06:26 – The importance of being present

09:40 – John Maxwell’s Five Levels of Leadership

10:46 – Hiring the right people

11:33 – Turning the hockey match into the ballet

13:42 – How a CEO can develop a highly functional and cohesive team

16:18 – Tools for developing emotional intelligence

18:05 – The cultural norm of interruption

19:19 – Six key points for leading high performing cohesive teams

Tweetable Quotes

“There’s power, there’s influence, and there’s authority. Those are the three things that you have as a leader.” (09:15)

“It’s people, product and processes. Those are the three ‘P’s.” (11:16)

“Our job as leaders is to articulate the vision so that it is crystal clear, make sure that everybody in the company understands the core values and the purpose of the company – the vision of it, where are we headed – and continually reinforce that through time with everybody.” (12:49)

“Conflict is nothing more than the pursuit of truth if you have a trusting relationship.” (20:58)