How to convert your management committee to a real leadership team?

Intro

Many CEOs of SMEs and scale-ups in Belgium and the Netherlands tell me they “have a management team”.

When we look closer, what they often mean is:

• a group of senior people,

• each responsible for their own silo,

• who meet regularly to exchange updates.

That’s not the same as a leadership team.

In “100 Days to Make Your Mark as a CEO”, I treat the leadership team as one of the core levers for your first 100 days. Because if that group is not truly aligned, your organisation will never be.

Buy the book

Management committee vs leadership team

You can feel the difference in the questions people ask.

A management committee tends to ask:

• “How is my department doing?”

• “How do I protect my budget and people?”

• “What does the CEO want from us this month?”

A leadership team asks:

• “What does the company need now?”

• “What is best for our customers and long-term strategy?”

• “What do we need to solve together so that everyone can succeed?”

In the first case, you get:

• status updates,

• hidden competition,

• unresolved tensions.

In the second case, you get:

• clearer decisions,

• shared ownership,

• faster execution.

Three foundations of a real leadership team

1. A shared mission beyond titles

Every member of your leadership team has a role:

• finance,

• sales,

• operations,

• HR,

• technology,

• etc.

But around the table, they need a second job description:

“I am here to co-lead the company,not just to represent my function.”

That mindset shift is essential.

If a decision is good for the company and slightly uncomfortable for their department, a leadership team member should still be able to support it.

2. Clear decision rights

A lot of frustration in Belgian and Dutch SMEs and scale-ups comes from unclear decision-making:

• topics bounce between meetings,

• people don’t know who can say “yes” or “no”,

• agreements are reopened again and again.

In your first 100 days, ask:

• Which decisions do we take as a team?

• Which decisions are mine as CEO (after hearing input)?

• Which decisions do I expect leaders to take without bringing them to the table?

Write it down.Share it with the team.Use it in meetings.

3. The right mix of people

Sometimes the problem is simple: you have the wrong people at the table.

Examples:

• someone who is excellent in their domain, but cannot think beyond it;

• someone who avoids all conflict and says yes to everything;

• someone who uses the meeting to fight old battles;

• someone who doesn’t prepare and slows everything down.

In your first or next 100 days as CEO, you have to be honest:

• Who behaves like a company leader?

• Who acts mainly as a departmental defender?

• Who grows when you put more responsibility on the table?

• Who is consistently out of step with where you want to go?

You don’t have to change everything overnight.But you do need a clear view of what kind of team you actually have.

Using your 100 days to upgrade your leadership team

In “100 Days to Make Your Mark as a CEO”, I suggest three phases that you can apply specifically to your leadership team.

Days 1–30 – Observe

• Watch how the team behaves in meetings.

• Have 1:1 conversations with each member.

• Ask them how they see the company, the strategy, the risks.

• Notice who talks about “we” and who mainly talks about “I” or “my department”.

Days 31–60 – Redefine

• Clarify the mission of the team: “This is not a reporting forum; this is the group that co-leads the company.”

• Agree on decision rights and meeting focus.

• Introduce a few simple rules (e.g. no laptops, clear decisions, one owner per topic).

Days 61–100 – Act

• Change the agenda structure: less reporting, more decisions.

• Start holding each other accountable for agreed actions.

• If necessary, start adjusting team composition or roles.

The goal is not perfection.The goal is progress towards a team that actually helps you lead the company.

How this plays out in SMEs and scale-ups

In practice, for a SME or scale-up in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Amsterdam or Rotterdam, this can mean:

• turning a monthly “management committee” that mostly listens to PowerPoints into a bi-weekly leadership session where 2–3 big topics are decided;

• inviting one or two new voices (for example, product or people) into the core team;

• moving someone out of the leadership team but keeping them in a specialist role where they add a lot of value.

It also means being transparent with the team about what you are doing and why.