Team Effectiveness at the Top: Strengthening Both the Executive Team and the Second Line

When we talk about team effectiveness, it’s easy to picture the executive team sitting around a table. But in many organisations, there’s not just one team at the top, there are two. 

There’s the senior leadership team (the C-suite or executive team) and the second line, those just below, often running key business units or functions. Both teams are critical. And more often than not, their effectiveness is tightly linked. 

If the executive team isn’t aligned, the second line feels it. If the second line lacks cohesion or confidence, it puts more pressure on the execs. We can’t look at one in isolation. 

We often find ourselves working with both, sometimes together, sometimes separately, to help build stronger leadership across the top layers of the business. 

What gets in the way of team effectiveness? 

Let’s start with the exec team. Even the most experienced leaders can fall into patterns that make the team less than the sum of its parts: prioritising their own area over shared goals, avoiding conflict to keep the peace, struggling to make decisions as a team, or spending too much time on operational detail rather than focusing on strategic direction. 

And during periods of significant organisational transition, we often see executive teams become overwhelmed. They can struggle to step back, align on what really matters, or set a strategy that is ambitious and energising enough to engage the wider business. 

Lencioni’s work on team effectiveness remains a useful reference point here. His five dysfunctions, absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results, often appear in different forms across executive teams. That said, while the framework is helpful for identifying common dynamics, it’s important to find a structure and approach that fits the specific challenges and culture of the organisation. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution. 

You see some of these dynamics when execs don’t challenge each other. Or when they agree in the meeting and then do something else. Or when key decisions keep getting postponed because there isn’t clarity or buy-in. 

And it’s not just the exec team. The second line often mirrors what they see above them. If the top team is cautious, siloed or directive, the second line becomes hesitant. They stop taking ownership, they seek permission, and they wait for direction. 

On top of that, second-line teams can often get stuck in operational mode. This is something we’ve written about in more depth before, these leaders are usually strong operationally, used to getting things done and keeping the business running. But what’s often missing is a shift towards thinking strategically, stepping into decision-making, and taking accountability beyond their day-to-day remit. 

Another common pattern we see in second-line teams is that leaders remain too focused on their individual departments. When the conversation moves to another part of the organisation, they disengage. There’s a lack of organisation-wide ownership, and as a result, these teams miss opportunities to influence broader impact. 

This creates a loop. The exec team doesn’t trust the second line to lead independently, so they hold on tighter. And the second line, seeing that, steps back further. 

Breaking that loop means working on team effectiveness at both levels. 

How we approach it 

Whether we’re working with the top team, the second line, or both, we start with diagnostics. This might include interviews, team surveys, or 360 feedback. We also look at how the team sees itself, and how others experience them. 

From there, we bring the insights into a team effectiveness workshop. This is often the moment where things shift. Seeing the data, and having space to talk openly, gives the team a shared view of what’s working and what’s not. 

We use the Lencioni model to guide those conversations. Where are we strong? Where are we falling short? What are the behaviours, conversations and habits we need to change? 

This isn’t about a one-off fix. It’s a process. We support teams over time, helping them build trust and psychological safety, work through conflict in healthy ways, make and stick to joint decisions, hold each other accountable, and stay focused on shared outcomes, not just functional goals. 

That might involve workshops focused on real team challenges, coaching during regular meetings, one-to-one coaching to support individual shifts, and peer feedback or alignment sessions across both levels. 

When we work with the second line, the focus is often on helping them become a team in their own right, not just a group of managers reporting to the execs. This means making time to talk about the business as a whole, not just their areas, and supporting and challenging each other to take ownership for outcomes across the organisation. 

And when both the exec team and second line are doing this work in parallel, things start to move faster. The two layers become more connected, more confident, and more consistent. 

Some shifts we often see: 

• More clarity and pace in decision-making 

• Healthier challenge and better conversations 

• Less duplication, more shared ownership 

• A more empowered culture that flows through the organisation 

Team effectiveness work isn’t always easy. It involves surfacing tensions, giving feedback, and shifting habits that have often been there for years. But when done well, it creates the conditions for real change. 

If your organisation is aiming for transformation, growth or cultural change, then how your top teams work, both the execs and the second line, will make or break your chances of success. 

It’s not about off-sites or clever frameworks. It’s about real conversations, clear expectations, and committing to how you want to lead together.  Ready to strengthen your top teams?

Explore our tailored team effectiveness solutions to help your executive and second-line leaders align, lead with impact, and drive lasting change. [Discover our approach →]