Business leaders have warned that having a senior leadership team which acts “as an echo chamber” could spell trouble for your organisation, as new PM Liz Truss announces her senior Cabinet.

With many commentators highlighting the “friends and allies” composition of the new Cabinet – and the BBC saying a government in Liz Truss’s “own image” could “provoke rebellion down the track” – specialist recruiter David Hunt said “only weak leaders have senior leadership teams which are an echo chamber”.

Hunt, CEO of Hyperion Executive Search, said:

“Surrounding yourself exclusively with ‘yes’ people and allies is a sign of an extremely fragile and weak ego – and of a weak leader – as well as of a lack of self-esteem and self-confidence.”

He warned that was important to involve “dissenting voices” at the top of any company as they were not necessarily seeking to disrupt but just to present “a different way of doing things”.

Meanwhile Martin Hartley, Managing Director of emagine, a management consulting firm for the financial services and technology sector, said he would recommend having at least “half the room” in any senior team thinking differently to you.

Hartley, whose consultancy operates in 24 locations across Europe including London, said:

“Ultimately, you want people in your senior team who have grown up with different experiences, who have different professional experiences, and in Liz Truss’s case political experiences, and issues that they can lead on, to help guide, challenge and enforce new and better policies, processes and systems in the business. This will ultimately be for the good of any organisation.”

And as the BBC also said it was “striking” that there has been a near total purge of those who backed Rishi Sunak from the Cabinet, Hunt, who recruits C-suite and senior executives and teams for the cleantech (clean technology) industry globally stressed dissenters should be a powerful force in any successful senior team.

“Any healthy leadership team of any description needs to have conflicting voices – you don’t want people who are disruptive or disagree just for the sake of it but equally you don’t want people who just agree which is worse,” he said.

“I like the saying and the phrase – and I’ve always relied on it in business – if there’s three of you in the room and you all agree on everything – at least two of you aren’t needed.”

He added: “Voices with different opinions and voices are vital to a healthy organisation and a healthy leadership team – it’s not even about keeping your enemies close, as they say in politics, but about having voices with different ideas and thought processes.

“The inability to consider other options while making decisions is a weak trait and a poor skill in any leader. You have to be able to hear, think, consider and take into account other thoughts, opinions and ideas before you come to your conclusions.”

“They may conflict from time to time – and you don’t want people who are disagreeing on everything – but you certainly don’t want people who are agreeing on everything because that’s a fast track to a disastrous way of thinking and making decisions and the worst of echo chambers really – going entirely on your own thoughts and principles, often chasing down the wrong avenues.

“If your only outside opinions are those that are echoes of your own voice – it’s a very dangerous and a very weak position to be in.”

Martin Hartley, whose management consultancy supports clients with business challenges by providing digital, tech, and financial consulting services and solutions, said he understood why Liz Truss or any senior leader might want some allies around them but striking a balance was key:

“I understand any leader – Liz Truss in this case – wants some allies around them/her and wants some people that they can feel confident with and to help ease themselves into the job with, and, of course, somebody who will be on board with their policies.

“It’s the same in the business world when you are bringing in new processes and ways of working – then you want people that are in agreement with that but equally I would say that you need half the room at least to think differently to you and challenge you – in a respectful manner.”

Martin, who is fresh from implementing a new senior leadership team in the UK and from a group-level country merger, also warned a top heavy team of allies could damage the mid-long term growth of any organisation:

He explained: “As you try and navigate change in an organisation and growth, if you surround  yourself with ‘yes’ men and women and you have your vision and only your vision and everyone agrees with that vision– then how long can that last unless you are a super visionary and you are unbelievable at revolutionising your way of thinking continuously then it can’t be relying on one person – Steve Jobs or someone like that?”

And he agreed it was key to have challenging minds in key teams not just to keep them close but also “to have people who think differently around you which causes you to have more awareness”.

He said: “Ultimately, as consultants, we are there to disrupt the status quo: clients pay us a lot of money for our services for us to go in and provide solutions but would we be providing solutions if we just went in and agreed with anything? It would be detrimental to the customer and to their product offering!

“The definition of disruptors is really someone who thinks differently to you – and you need new ideas and new perspective. Listening to different voices means we are thinking about a holistic approach to the service we offer and means we are able to change and move with the times too.”

And Hunt, whose company works across the UK, Europe and the US and has worked with Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy ventures, said:

“Having a senior team of people who are ‘yes’ people or all think the same is unusual for any business – it is certainly unusual in companies that are successful! Being able to listen to a variety of voices and their opinions is a sign of strong leadership.

“Having – or thinking you need – a team entirely in your own image reflects immaturity and a lack of confidence and someone who bases their own thought processes on their own thinking and ideology rather than on facts and opinions and experience which is always a danger in any leadership organisation – not least in Government!”