What would happen if your organisation really worked? Most organisations are not short of talent. They are short of the conversations that unlock it.
As coaches, we get lots of opportunity to observe corporate systems. And we have an advantage: it is much easier to see what is going on in a system if you are not emotionally invested in it. What we see centres on an essential truth: Humans make things complicated. We have needs, emotions, and competing priorities that often get in the way of collective progress.
In ten years, perhaps technology will have helped us to crack how to truly mobilise the collective talent within organisations. But while we wait for that, there is a more immediate question. What can we do today to unlock more of the potential that already exists within our organisations?
Let’s imagine a company where everyone is aligned behind a common vision and clear goals. Decisions move at pace. People take ownership without being chased. Functions work with each other, not around each other. The same conversations don’t need to happen three times to land.
At the heart of this is something simple but often missing – trust. Not just within teams, but across them.
The illusion of alignment
On the surface, many organisations look aligned. They have a clear strategy and defined behaviours, often displayed prominently. They have strong talent and experienced leaders, organised in a management hierarchy. Information is cascaded.
And yet underneath, something very different is happening. Decisions are slower than they should be. Priorities compete rather than connect. Conversations are polite, but not always honest. Issues are raised and then quietly parked.
Not because people don’t care. But because the system isn’t set up to enable the right conversations.
Performance rarely breaks down in individuals. It breaks down in the space between them. Between functions. Between priorities. Between what is said and what is heard.
And very often, what sits in that space is a lack of trust and understanding between teams. People are operating with different agendas, without fully seeing how those agendas compete or collide.
The trap of hero leadership
In a volatile and uncertain world, leaders are no longer expected to have all the answers. And yet many still feel the pressure to behave as though they do.
So, they step in. They intervene. They give direction. They solve the problem.
This ‘hero leadership’ can create movement in the moment. But over time, it creates dependency instead of ownership, compliance rather than commitment, and activity instead of impact. It also increases pressure on the leader and limits the performance of the wider system.
High performing teams are rarely led this way. They are led by leaders who coach rather than control.
A different lever for impact
The leaders who create real impact do something different. They don’t carry the system. They shift how the system thinks.
They ask questions that unlock better thinking. They create environments where challenge is safe and expected. They build trust so conversations become real, not what people think others want to hear.
Crucially, they extend this beyond their own teams.
High performing organisations are characterised by strong relationships between teams, not just within them. Cross-functional trust becomes a defining advantage. And that trust is built through consistent, high-quality interaction, often through peer-to-peer coaching across functions.
When leaders take time to understand each other’s pressures, priorities, and constraints, something shifts. Silos begin to loosen. Assumptions are challenged. And decisions start to reflect the whole system, not just one part of it.
As trust increases, so does the quality and speed of decision-making.
Why structure alone won’t fix it
In matrixed organisations, there is often a push to create more clarity through tools like RACI or tighter role definition. Clarity matters. But in complex systems, it is rarely complete.
What makes matrixed organisations work is not perfect structure. It is how people behave within that structure. How leaders show up in the moments that matter determines whether people speak up, whether decisions stick, whether accountability is real, and whether collaboration actually happens. And increasingly, it determines whether trust exists across the organisation or not.
From insight to action
Programmes designed to help organisations move beyond awareness and into action should be table stakes for leadership development in today’s increasingly complex world. Our own Lead with Impact process helps organisations transition away from developing leaders in isolation by working with them together across functions on real business challenges.
The focus is simple. Helping leaders shift from control to coaching. Strengthening cross-functional relationships. And enabling better, faster decision-making across the system, not within silos.
A consistent outcome of this work is trust. Trust between individuals. Trust between teams. And a clearer understanding of how different agendas compete, and how to navigate those tensions more effectively.
A final thought
Many organisations don’t need more capability. They need to unlock what is already there. The question is not whether the talent exists. It is whether the conditions are right for that talent to flourish.
If performance in your organisation is being held back not by strategy or capability, but by the conversations that aren’t quite happening, then the opportunity is significant.
If you are exploring how to strengthen cross-functional trust, improve decision-making, and build leaders who create impact beyond their own teams, we would welcome a conversation.
Carrie Chappell, an Executive Coach at TPA, brings over 20 years of international experience in marketing communications, having led global and UK campaigns for major brands including Coca-Cola, The Walt Disney Company, Unilever, Heineken, and Kraft Heinz.
Sue Middleton MBE, an Executive Coach at TPA, brings extensive executive experience from the pharmaceutical industry, including senior leadership roles at GSK, where she operated at the highest level across marketing, communications, and government relations, and was awarded an MBE for her services to the industry.
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