The importance of process in building an executive leadership team: A case study

In today's competitive, fast-changing world of healthcare, organizations cannot tolerate ineffective leadership over the long term if they are to remain successful. It is very common for leadership teams to come together and immediately begin to do business…at least to attempt to do what each team member believes the group's business should be. Unfortunately, each person probably has a different idea of what the team's business should be, and how they should go about conducting it. This is a certain recipe for ineffectiveness. The following case study examines how the executive team in a health sciences college approached the development of an effective leadership team, and discusses the importance of process to achieving the desired outcomes. The process so described can be used with any leadership team, but it should always be customized to suit the unique needs and desires of each team.