Jeff Rosenthal and Molly Rosen, How to Lead Across a Siloed Organization.

Jeff Rosenthal and Molly Rosen, “How to Lead Across a Siloed Organization,” Harvard Business Review, January 11, 2024, https://hbr.org/2024/01/how-to-lead-across-a-siloed-organization.

Reading notes.

It’s a common problem for CEOs to not know how to get their executive teams to work together, with each executive thinking only about their own function.

Sampling VPs+ who are able to successfully navigate their organizations without harming their relationships, clear trends emerged. They have “lateral agility”, spending as much time with their teams as with the rest of the organization—able to focus on their own objectives while driving forward the objectives of others.

3 traits:

1. Expanded mindsets: Humility in choosing priorities, putting the entire organization ahead of their own functions. View their job as locating expertise around the organization, weaving it together.
2. Connective skills: Curiosity and empathy lead to trust and symbiosis. Interest in motivations and constraints of peers. Negotiation skills seeking for everyone to win.
3. Innovative practices: Everyone brings sketches, no one brings plans that didn’t involve others—never about getting others to take your ideas. Prioritize building relationships with the most important participants.

To improve:

• Figure out 5-8 most important stakeholders and decide whether enough time is spent with them
• Is time spend going laterally or just vertically?
• Learn about the day-to-day lives of people around the organization