High-performing leadership teams aren’t built on similarity. They’re built on synergy. 

A great CV can tell you what someone’s done. But it can’t tell you how exactly they’ll fit.

It’s tempting to focus on credentials when hiring for leadership positions, particularly at the executive level. Impressive track records, industry experience, top-tier education. And while those things matter, they’re not enough.

Why?

Because leadership isn’t an individual sport. It’s a team game.

Furthermore, a lot of companies continue to form teams based more on individual excellence, not collective strength. 

The Problem With “Safe” Hires

Too often, organisations promote or hire leaders who look good on paper or feel familiar. The “safe pair of hands.” The culturally similar candidate. The one with the right title from a competitor brand. 

But here’s the problem:

• Similar doesn’t mean synergistic.
• Familiarity doesn’t guarantee fit.
• And filling gaps based only on role or function can leave blind spots across the leadership team.

If every leader is strong on their own but misaligned as a unit, you don’t have a leadership team. You have a leadership lineup.

What Collective Strength Looks Like

Leadership teams aren’t made up of carbon copies. They are purposefully built around complementary strengths, differing viewpoints, abilities, leadership philosophies, and ways of thinking that enhance and challenge one another.

Here’s what those teams tend to share:  

• Shared purpose: They share a common understanding of what success looks like and what they hope to achieve.
• Psychological safety: They feel free to question, disagree, and course-correct without fear.
• Strength diversity: They are intentionally different. They don’t just tolerate tension. They use it productively.
• Team-first mindset: It’s not about who’s right. It’s about getting it right. Success is shared, not solo.

From Co-Existence to Co-Leadership

It’s easy to build leadership teams where individuals just coexist. They manage their functions, attend meetings, and stay in their lane.

High-performing teams, however, go farther. They evolve from coexistence to co-leadership.

That means:  

• Leaders who are aware of not just their own domain but the entire business context.
• Decisions made collaboratively. Not just communicated after the fact.
• A united front, especially under pressure.

Co-leadership doesn’t happen by accident. It requires intentional design, and that starts with how you hire.

How to Hire for Collective Strength

So how do you build a team that adds up to more than the sum of its parts?

Here’s where to start: 

• Profile the team. Not just the role.
  • Examine the strengths, blind spots, and behavioural characteristics of the current leadership team prior to hiring. What is lacking that could make the group better?
• Hire for chemistry and challenge.
  • Look for candidates who bring healthy tension. Those who can push thinking forward without creating friction.
• Use behavioural and cognitive insights.
  • You can evaluate a candidate’s ability to work in a team beyond just their resume by using tools like leadership simulations, team profiling, and psychometrics.
• Balance similarity with diversity.
  • It’s fine to hire someone who shares your values but not your blind spots. Aim for aligned purpose, not identical profiles.
• Promote adaptability over perfection.
  • You are hiring for the future of the company, not just for where it is now. Make adaptability, curiosity, and resilience your top priorities.

Final Thought: Hire With the Team in Mind

Too many leadership hires are made in isolation. One impressive candidate at a time. But when you build in isolation, you risk misalignment, duplicated strengths, and cultural imbalance.

Instead, ask:

▶ What does the team need, not just this role?

▶ Where are we trying to go, and who helps us get there faster?

▶ Are we building a team that challenges, supports, and grows together?

Because when leadership teams are intentionally built around collective strength, they don’t just perform better, they lead better.

If you’re ready to take the next step into building your next high-performing team or simply just want to explore and asses your team, we’d love to help 🔗 Contact Us