Leadership team charter template

What is in the template?

1. Purpose. Why the team exists, and which of six common purposes matter most now.
2. Team tasks and decision rights. The issues that need the whole team, and who decides each.
3. Members. Who is in the core team, who joins for some items, and why.
4. Working agreements. Four to six promises about how the team works, each with a sign that shows whether it holds.
5. What the team needs. Information, time, recognition and support, and the gaps to close.
6. Stakeholders. The people and groups the team depends on, and who owns each relationship.
7. Review. Who agreed the charter, when, and when the team will look at it again.

How do you use it?

Send the template to every member before a working session. Ask each to answer the purpose and task questions alone. Answers written alone show where views differ; a discussion that starts with the leader's draft tends to hide it.

In the session, compare the answers section by section. Agree one wording for each part, and keep the whole charter to two pages. A charter nobody can recall in a meeting does no work.

Why is it built this way?

The sections follow what research on leadership teams puts first: a clear purpose, tasks that need the whole team, and the right members. The reasons, with sources, are in what a leadership team charter is and the purpose of a leadership team.