When thinking about team building exercises, we usually think of office workers and lower management, yet team building activities for executives are just as important to producing results for a business. Here are 5 exercises that the upper crust can use to better improve their company.
1. CREATING STORIES TOGETHER
Executives align when they create together. Have a small group (8 or less) come together and give each paper and pencil. Each start a story, with a phrase like “Once upon a time” or “This year the sales team…” Each executive gets to add to the story, either with one word if verbal or one phrase at a time if written. Pass around the paper to let each executive adds a single word of their choice. Start with a round that is funny then serious or a mix of the two. Once finished, read each story aloud to other teams. Focus the stories on relevant topics where you want the executives aligned. The activity promotes mutual effort with creative thought.
Take it a step further with Connect and Collaborate where executives practice listening, collaborating and building on top of ideas so they quickly become aligned. Improve the executives’ communication effectiveness and relationships within their team. Exercises in these 1-3 hour executive tune-ups aligns executives through sharing their creations and powerful stories.
2. BEST & WORST BOSSES
Executives started at the bottom just like anyone else. They had their fair share of bad bosses like anyone else. A good quick exercise is to have everyone share their best and worst boss. Ask them to tease out what made them great or what they needed to do differently. You’ll get lots of humor and everyone talks about effective leadership skills.
Take the executives to Antarctic and learn from one of the best leaders ever – Sir Ernest Shackleton in an immersive leadership challenge. Lead the Endurance engages executives in an immersive team building activity they’ll never forget. The room is chilled, it snows… they recreate strategy, goals and shed baggage!
3. THE EXECUTIVE ALPHABET
Arrange into groups of about 8 in a circle. Then executives close their eyes and each share a letter at a time without a pattern. For round two, make it a bit more challenging by asking them to restart at A when 2 speak at the same time. We love this exercise. It is a great tool for busy executives who want shorter meetings that achieve more. Executives learn to avoid “piling on” and building quickly to achieve results through teamwork — a goal we want individual-oriented executives to learn. Go further and eliminate 50% of the meetings and cut length by over 50% by quickly applying the exercises from Meetings that Produce Results.
4. CREATE AS A GROUP
Leaders come with a picture. The rest of the group closes their eyes. The leader then describes what the picture looks like, while the group creates their own picture in their heads with eyes shut. This activity illustrates the power of the visual communication and helps executives see firsthand the importance of their imagery used to communicate their strategy effectively to the organization. For a larger shift, consider the communicating naturally program to embrace how to lead their teams naturally, eliminate resistance and achieve more. Take it a step further and your executives create POW briefings with visuals for the main goals and strategies of the senior leadership team.
5. BUILD A BETTER NEWSPAPER
With only a single sheet of newspaper and a roll of tape, groups of five or less compete against one another to create the largest free-standing structure. This structure can reach to the ceiling if the group is well-coordinated and plans ahead. The point of the exercise is working to solve a problem as a group using minimal resources. Go a step further and build a better company. In Team Forward, executives literally create the step-by-step action plan required to achieve their desired goals. Support them to topple their dominoes with High Impact Coaching.
Take the Next Step Toward Leadership Excellence
Miscommunication, misalignment, and unresolved conflicts don’t have to hold your executive team back. The tools and strategies we’ve explored in this blog are just the beginning. With programs like Save the Titanic and Communicate Naturally, your executives can master practical skills to navigate challenges, strengthen collaboration, and achieve extraordinary results.
Ready to transform your team? Let’s make it happen.
- 🚢 Explore Save the Titanic to immerse your executives in a leadership experience that drives measurable change.
- 🗣️ Discover Communicate Naturally and equip your executives with tools for seamless communication and alignment.
- 💬 Contact us today to learn how Learn2 programs help over 60% of the Best Places to Work achieve their goals.
Transform the way your team communicates and leads—start today. Contact Us Now.
