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Much is being written and spoken about the “human skills” leaders need today; the capabilities that differentiate human capacity from technological and machine capability.

At the close of a year-long executive team coaching program, the CEO paused and asked me: “If there’s one thing you’d suggest we keep doing to help us to continue to operate as a high performing team, what is it?”

Most executive teams I work with begin by claiming to value learning because they invest in offsites, they engage in diagnostics, they attend leadership programs, they debrief major projects.

In my work with executive leadership teams, a consistent pattern emerges. Meetings appear productive. Decisions are “agreed.”

An analysis of a decade of data I’ve collected coaching executive teams, reveals that when teams choose safety over truth, they flounder. The ‘courage gap’ widens.

Most failure of execution in teams, isn’t about strategy, talent, or effort. It’s about misalignment; of understanding, expectations, and commitments.