By Andy Loignon, Heather Sundell, Amy Soto
Center for Creative Leadership
Summary
In this article, the authors explore the journey of team development, likening it to climbing a mountain where tools and guides are essential for success. CCL’s TeamVantage™ assessment acts as a powerful tool for teams, helping them identify and enhance leadership outcomes such as Direction, Alignment, and Commitment (DAC)™. Specifically, drawing on data from over 480 senior leaders and their teams, the paper discusses how TeamVantage captures the nuanced layers of effectiveness between individual experiences and broader organizational culture. Key findings emphasize the role of psychological safety, group qualities, influence processes, and leadership outcomes in predicting team effectiveness.
The authors provide four key insights for leaders. First, psychological safety is a dominant predictor of leadership outcomes, underscoring the importance of creating a safe environment for psychological risk-taking. Second, additional group qualities, such as identity and conflict management, complement psychological safety in predicting DAC. Third, the research identifies three distinct patterns of influence within teams (i.e., “captains”, “collaborators”, and “partners”), each yielding different outcomes of leadership. Fourth, each leadership outcome uniquely predicts aspects of team effectiveness, with direction linked to thriving, alignment to performance and satisfaction, and commitment to learning.
To maximize team effectiveness, the authors recommend that leaders focus on these key areas and use assessments like TeamVantage to guide their development efforts. Tools like TeamVantage provide valuable insights into team dynamics and help leaders make informed decisions and prioritize development efforts. By understanding their team’s current position and the path ahead, leaders can strategically plan their ascent to peak performance, ensuring that every step taken is purposeful and aligned with their ultimate goals.
Citation
Loignon, A., Sundell, H. & Soto, A. (2025). Climbing to peak team effectiveness with CCL’s TeamVantage™ Assessment. Center for Creative Leadership.
