The three things holding back teams today

Successful team performance requires slowing down to achieve alignment before rushing into action. Spending more time upfront ensuring everyone truly understands the problem statement, decision-making roles, and priorities will save significant time, energy, and relationship breakdowns later.

Without this foundational alignment, teams waste enormous amounts of time in ineffective meetings, experience constant breakdowns in execution, and carry baggage from unresolved issues that poisons future decisions. The key is to move with discipline and sophistication rather than mere speed, investing in both the technical frameworks and the relational intelligence needed to bring out the best thinking from diverse perspectives.

Susan Asiyanbi is the founder and CEO of the Olori Network, an executive leadership practice that works with CEOs, executive teams, and boards, specialising in studying what the strongest executive teams and boards do differently.

Three reasons to listen

• Identify the hidden costs of misalignment in your team, from wasted meeting time to breakdowns in relationships that drain energy both at work and at home
• Apply a disciplined approach to decision-making that balances speed with rigour through five key strands
• Reclaim control of your calendar by conducting a time audit that reveals the gap between what you say matters and where you actually spend your energy

Episode highlights

• [00:09:18] Alignment, themes, and relationships
• [00:11:06] How to get alignment
• [00:12:32] What happens when alignment isn't found
• [00:15:48] Asking the right questions
• [00:17:32] Decision-making is compromised
• [00:18:40] The five key components of a decision-making framework
• [00:26:17] How to move more slowly
• [00:28:41] How will AI affect decision-making?
• [00:31:44] What are you prioritising for?
• [00:37:23] What to try this
• [00:39:57] Susan's media recommendation
• [00:40:43] Takeaways from Pia and Dan

Links

• Connect with Susan via LinkedIn
• Team #1, by Patrick Lencioni
• AI-Generated “Workslop” Is Destroying Productivity
• How to turn a group of strangers into a team – Susan’s media recommendation
• Track and improve your team performance with Squadify
• Leave us a voice note