Leaders are facing significant challenges in the face of ongoing volatility, uncertainty and ambiguity. Tasked with setting strategic direction and providing oversight to reach long-term goals, C-suites are being asked to jettison formerly tried-and-true ways of doing business in favor of new, untested approaches while making decisions, knowing that the information they have today could very well change tomorrow.
How can executives adapt?
One foundational element of success comes from cognitive diversity.
Times of great change offer opportunities for innovation. That requires leaders to be open to new perspectives and willing to question conventional wisdom. Perspective-taking can help them make this transition.
The Business Case for Cognitive Diversity in the Boardroom
Diversity of thought is sometimes overlooked because it’s not visible, yet its impact is substantial. Cognitively diverse teams who collaborate productively can solve problems three times faster, boost innovation by more than 20% [1] and reduce risk by more than 30%. [2] 
This capacity for quick, effective problem-solving is essential in an increasingly volatile world. Additionally, as ambiguity permeates our workplaces and traditional practices no longer achieve the same results, creativity is vital in building a future-ready organization.
Looking beyond the boardroom, embracing multiple perspectives will help ensure your message and strategy resonate with your employee base. Leaders need their workforce to be engaged in order to perform and achieve organizational goals [3], and staff will have a range of preferences, experiences and interests that impact how they are motivated.
When executives demonstrate that they have considered an approach holistically, personnel are more likely to have their burning questions addressed, which will promote greater buy-in and support for the strategy.
Elevating Executive Team Performance with Perspective-Taking
Our research at Emergenetics International [4] shows that at most 15% of the world will have all the same Thinking preferences that you do. That means new ideas, points of view and insights are within reach. Still, the presence of cognitive diversity does not necessarily equate to better performance. 
Just think about a team that struggles with psychological safety. [5] If colleagues feel uncomfortable speaking up, it’s unlikely that their brilliant ideas will ever surface.
Leaders may also hire people who think and behave similarly to themselves. This homogeneity is typically unintentional and often arises because it feels easier to work with people we tend to agree with. However, the pitfalls come from increased blind spots and a tendency toward groupthink.
Overcoming Common Performance Challenges with Emergenetics
Whether your organization is unable to activate the cognitive diversity that exists in its executive team or you find that groupthink is the norm, tools like the Emergenetics Profile [6] can help. Leaders can use assessments to uncover patterns [7] in processing styles and approaches.
With these insights, the C-suite can:
- Recognize one another’s innate tendencies
- Explore commonalities and outliers among the group
- Uncover how their styles impact the ways they make decisions and lead
This understanding serves as the foundation for turning differing perspectives into collective strengths.
Boosting Executive Team Effectiveness
To help leaders use their combined cognitive diversity to set strategy, Learning & Development teams can deliver training, on-demand tools and frameworks to:
- Promote diversity of thought – Ensure leaders understand why their dissimilar perspectives are so important by reinforcing the value of cognitive diversity [8] and inviting executives to reflect on moments when their blind spots cost them.
- Optimize communication – Whether you’re using Emergenetics or another tool, encourage leaders to use the language of the assessment in conversations. When they raise a new idea or explain a concern, note which Attribute that comment is coming from to bring greater awareness to different cognitive styles.
- Elevate psychological safety – Support the C-suite by co-designing norms that make it easier for every team member to speak up. Consider integrating anonymous channels or asking executives to contribute their ideas in writing to enhance participation.
Associates: Delivering a Meeting of the Minds [9] or Team Dynamics for Small Groups can be a great way to create an inclusive environment by helping executives identify the leadership styles on the team, experience the value of their distinct perspectives and gain strategies to communicate and collaborate in a productive way.
Reducing Groupthink
In reviewing the C-suite’s cognitive makeup, you may find significant similarities. L&D leaders can introduce tactics to move beyond blind spots, including:
- The 5 Why’s – When an opportunity or problem surfaces, encourage executives to ask “Why” five times to reveal fundamental issues and root causes, rather than trust their first instincts.
- Pre-Mortem – Invite leaders to imagine they are 12 months in the future and the strategy or initiatives they are launching have failed. Consider all the reasons why this situation may have occurred and work backwards to mitigate those risks.
- Extended Feedback Loops – If you know what preferences are under-represented, encourage the C-suite to find employees who have strengths in those Attributes and ask them to weigh in on what the executives may be overlooking.
Associates: Include WEboarding [10] in your executive retreats or meetings. Using this approach, all team members write down the questions, needs and concerns of each Attribute before reviewing the results as a group. This approach may help avoid tendencies to go with the loudest or most directive voices.
Building More Connected, Effective Executive Teams
Diversity of thought leads to stronger performance when leaders know how to embrace it. By understanding strengths and blind spots, the C-suite will be more strategic in decision-making and better equipped to raise innovative, thoughtful ideas that support long-term organizational success.
As a final thought, keep in mind that perspective-taking can benefit leaders well before they ever reach the executive level. L&D can create the conditions for elevated performance by weaving cognitive diversity into employee development programming from the very beginning.
Creating a foundation where individuals recognize their own preferences and see the value in distinct approaches will give emerging leaders a chance to practice many of the skills they’ll need to be successful as executives.
Explore how Emergenetics can help your leaders leverage their collective strengths, boost collaboration and create an environment of psychological safety. Fill out the form below to speak with our team!
FAQs about Executive Team Performance
1. How can Emergenetics improve executive team effectiveness?
Emergenetics raises awareness of how executives innately prefer to think and behave, revealing strengths as well as potential blind spots. This understanding empowers leaders to proactively consider alternative perspectives. Our trainings create the conditions for team effectiveness by helping executives value one another’s gifts, increase psychological safety and elevate communication and collaboration practices so differing points of view can be translated into better decision-making and holistic strategies.
2. What role does cognitive diversity play in executive team performance?
Cognitive diversity has been shown to increase the speed and effectiveness of problem-solving as well as improve innovation and mitigate risks. By having an array of thinking and behavioral preferences represented within a team, leaders are better equipped to approach a challenge or opportunity from multiple angles, consider a range of ideas and proactively assess alternatives and drawbacks.
3. Can Emergenetics assessments be used for board retreats or executive team development?
Yes! The Emergenetics assessment reveals how individuals prefer to think and behave, and how those preferences impact their leadership, communication and processing styles. Our essential workshops boost team development by uncovering individual and collective strengths and providing strategies that help executives communicate and collaborate more effectively with one another.
Through our next-level workshops, trainings and executive sessions, we empower leaders to address common workplace challenges, such innovation or change management, as well as design customized experiences to strengthen strategy and culture within your company. Here’s one example from our work with LUXASIA [11].