54. Change Only Sticks If It Starts At The Top: Resetting Your Executive Team episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 10, 2026 · 49 MIN

54. Change Only Sticks If It Starts At The Top: Resetting Your Executive Team

from At Work with The Ready · host Rodney Evans and Sam Spurlin

Hard truth time: your executive team sets the ceiling on how fast everything below it can move and most of them aren't built for that job. Decisions pile up on the CEO's desk because nobody's clear who owns them. Board prep swallows whole weeks. One person quietly absorbs all the coordination nobody designed for. Then a real change arrives, and the team soft-pedals it out through their functions until eight executives are telling eight different stories and nothing’s getting done. In this episode, Rodney Evans and guest co-host Sam Rothkopf explore the merits of running an ELT Reset to get a leadership team clear on what it owns and how it runs. They unpack the problems that show up on nearly every executive team, the value of leaving your functional hat at the door, and the non-negotiables of any successful C-suite. Get the full transcript and resources mentioned in this episode here: https://theready.com/podcast/episodes/awwtr-54-resetting-your-executive-leadership-team -------------------------------- Ready to change your organization? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Let's talk.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get our newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -------------------------------- 00:00 Check-in: the first time you were in charge 04:40 Why even reset your leadership team 07:09 Switching hats to think like a “first team” 10:07 The chartering conversation everyone skips 11:53 Three problems of every leadership team 15:13 Being clear about what hear you’re wearing 18:55 Red flag: one person holds all the decisions 19:44 The backstop and blame game behind dysfunctional ELTs 22:15 Founder-led resets vs. professional CEO resets 27:07 Building an adaptive op rhythm for your ELT 30:43 Who belongs on an executive leadership team 35:52 The two polarities every ELT swings between 39:09 Learning from Sam’s C-suite experience 42:04 Knowing the signs when it’s time to reset 45:41 Your ELT is essential to investigate and decide 45:40 Investigate, decide, move Sound engineering and design by Taylor Marvin of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Coupe Studios⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

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54. Change Only Sticks If It Starts At The Top: Resetting Your Executive Team

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