A COMPREHENSIVE AND INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK FOR DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP TEAMS

This article presents a practical and research-based framework that consultants can use to promote systematic action in response to the complex challenges of developing leadership teams. The leadership-team development framework (LTDF) has 3 parts (a qualifying phase to determine whether a team-development intervention is necessary; an intervention phase comprised of the activities of establishing structures and processes, improving team dynamics, and coaching in real time; and an evaluation phase to see whether the intervention was successful in improving team effectiveness); it is carried out with a 5-step implementation process. Describing each of these aspects and illustrating them with examples drawn from the research literature on teams and from the author's extensive experience in consulting with teams, this article demonstrates that the LTDF is distinct from other team frameworks by being comprehensive, drawing on a variety of approaches and perspectives, and integrative, connecting outcomes to methods. A concluding section discusses the potential of the framework to help consultants who are working with leadership teams.