C-Suite, or C-Level, is a widely used slang term to refer to a corporation’s most important senior executives. The name comes from the titles of top senior executives, which tend to start with the letter C: Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Chief Information Officer (CIO), for example.
In our work with small and emerging managed group practices, we commonly observe dentist-entrepreneurs making painful and expensive mistakes while formulating, recruiting, and managing their C-Suites. My observations are based on my experience working at the C-Suite level from 1994 to 2003 in a number of industries: insurance, biotechnical, hospitals, and a sprinkling of Fortune 500s – Merck, GE Capital, and Boeing.
Generating a “team culture” in the C-Suite is rarely the first priority. C-Suite hires are often selected competencies in their respective areas of expertise — in addition to their background and experience — without consideration of what kind of team member they will make. This is a cardinal mistake. Encouraging teamwork and collaboration should be a top priority for C-Suite execs, though this important factor is rarely the focus when recruiting senior executives.
Look for follow-ups in our series on The C-Suite in the coming weeks:
Unconscious to The Signal
Lack of Emotional Intelligence
Too Little, Too Late
The “Oh Shit” Moment
The Burning Platform
Desperation Leads to Exasperation
Onboarding
They Can’t Wait to Get Going
Taking Off in the Wrong Direction
First Team First
Teams Win Championships
Superstars Kill Team
Lack of Context, Clarity, and Accountability
Driving in the Fog
Off on Their Own
CEO Won’t Let Go
Executive to Administrative Support
Killing People Off
Politics Galore
The Win-Lose Game
The Good People Leave
The most successful DSOs always keep their C-Suite team playing at championship levels. Oh, they’ve made plenty of costly mistakes on their way to getting it right. You can’t get the C-Suite to championship levels without some painful losses — it is unavoidable.
Your chances for C-Suite success will improve by studying the concepts we’ll tackle in this series.
— Marc
