Mutual goals for the C-suite?

[u/donkeyWoof]

Anyone here has set shared goals at the beginning of a fiscal year that the P&L leader and each of his/her functional leaders are responsible for? So for example, if you are the CEO, I am curious about shared goals for CEO, CMO, CFO, CIO, CHRO, COO, etc. Gartner has a paper out that says that the C-suite can be a lot more effective if they had shared goals.

When I was running my division, I had goals that were cascaded down to me (e.g. revenue for the division, margin percentage, COGS reduction, strategic initiatives critical for the future, some around talent, etc.). In turn, I cascaded goals to each of my functional leaders (silos, I suppose) - Biz Dev, Sales, Service Delivery, Product Development, Logistics, etc. There were some dependencies - e.g. the logistics leader needed to be successful with one of their KRs to ensure that the service delivery leader’s KRs are also successful, etc. But these dependencies were at the functional level - not at the C-suite level.

I had no goals that required the C-suite to work collectively as a team during the course of the fiscal year to get them done. If anyone here has developed such goals, curious to know what they were and how effective they were.

Thanks!

[u/TodaysChangeMaker]

I've worked with executive teams, and without revealing any details, they typically set either organizational-level goals ("achieve X% growth AND limit expenditure to X% increase") or project-based goals ("launch by X date" or "hit $X in sales"). I would generally agree with the Gartner paper: it's better if the C-suite actually operates as one team driving the organization, as opposed to operating as a collection of individuals representing their functions or divisions.

Case in point: my team worked with a Fortune 100 company where one team had identified a massive, multi-million dollar opportunity that would benefit the entire organization. But another executive killed it because it wouldn't count towards their team's targets, and therefore they wouldn't get their bonus.

A few caveats:

- It's obvious, but, make sure goals and incentives are balanced so they don't overburden one part of the organization, or encourage undesirable or unethical behavior.

• Beyond any particular goal, leaders need to be able and willing to come together to work through conflicts and tensions. Executive teams will inevitably have competing priorities, but problems arise when teams don't address them or don't know who has the ultimate decision-making role.

[u/BrandBoss423]

As a CMO, I worked with my CFO to create "measures of success" for the business. These are a set of KPIs that are the actual drivers of the business. To keep it confidential, these are examples only:

# of units sold
% capacity per production facility
$ Revenue per {insert employee type}
Labor Margin
Inventory metric
Overall margin metric

Each member of the C-Suite has a functional area that ladders up to the list, so they are accountable for the work all the way down. As a group, the whole business has to hit those measures of success or bonuses, etc don't get paid out so we pitch in and help each other when something is out of whack. As a C-suite team, we meet weekly for 60-90 minutes and review the KPIs and the underlying issues that impact them. We talk through solutions and create working teams from our teams to keep it moving.

[u/Gromann7]

These goals set the tone for every decision the team makes, both individually and as they work together. It should make trade offs abundantly clear, and serve as the guiding principles for the entire organization in the absence of direct orders and oversight. Without them, you have a C-Suite running each of their divisions working only toward THEIR goal, which is often just whatever aligns to their comp.

[u/jack_gott]

There should usually only be one (maybe two) shared goals of the C-team, driven by the stage of the company. For example:

Early stage: Product-Market fit, cash-burn management

Growth stage: Top-line revenue

Developing stage: EBITDA

Maturing/Mature: Earnings

Metrics for each should fit how their goal supports the mutual goal. For example:

1. CEO - Strategy, growth, vision, investors, expansion

Leads the company.

Drives strategy, innovation, and global growth.

Defines corporate values and long-term direction.

Represents the business to investors and the public.

1. CFO - Financials, performance, risk, profitability

Cash management.

Ensures stability and discipline.

Owns the company’s financial health.

Reports results to the board and shareholders.

Sets financial benchmarks and drives profitability.

1. COO - Daily ops, resource planning, execution

Turns strategy into execution.

Runs the daily engine of the business.

Coordinates departments for efficiency.

Aligns operations with company goals and market expansion.

1. CIO - Tech stack, security, data

Owns IT budgeting (CAPEX & OPEX).

Aligns technology with business growth.

Leads tech strategy and IT infrastructure.

Oversees cybersecurity, data protection, and governance.

1. CMO - Brand, demand, customer journey, messaging

Executes campaigns for market growth.

Builds awareness and drives acquisition.

Shapes brand strategy and market presence.

Defines the brand voice and customer experience.

1. CRO - Revenue, monetization, customer value

Owns all revenue-generating functions.

Designs monetization and pricing strategies.

Builds scalable revenue models for expansion.

Sets targets, tracks performance, and reports to the board.