CREATE ALIGNMENT
WHY IT MATTERS
A straight road is always the fastest route between two points. In terms of leadership, alignment means ensuring everything in an organization is fine-tuned and in synch so there is a straight path to achieving results. Leaders that create real alignment between people and the organization’s work ensure the full energy of the organization is pointed in the right direction. They get the very most there is to be had out of people, processes, and tools. Leaders that fail to create alignment in an organization invite inefficiency, confusion, misdirection, waste, contention, missed opportunity, and failed commitment. Their inability to align the organization leads to dispersed strength instead of well harnessed and focused energy.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE
Leaders that create alignment take personal responsibility to ensure the direction and vision of the organization are clearly communicated and well understood. They provide a constant repetition of messages and activities to reinforce the message of vision and alignment to the vision over long periods of time. They know that unless people really understand where the organization is going they can’t successfully align their efforts or play their part.
Leaders that create alignment can turn a little into a lot. They get everything there is to be had out of an organization by making sure that time, resources, and energy don’t go to waste. They focus the total thrust of the organization on doing those things that matter most to achieving their vision. They have a crystal-clear picture of where the organization needs to go, plot how to get there, and weed out anything that could be a distraction, burden, or misdirection to their goals.
Leaders that create alignment design their organization in the most efficient and effective way. They ensure there is clear line of sight from every level of the organization to the next highest level. They align individuals to teams, teams to divisions, and divisions to departments. Their organizational design ensures everyone knows their place, has a role, and understands how they fit into the bigger picture.
Leaders that create alignment use formal systems and processes to reinforce alignment in the organization. They create tools to cascade their overall goals downward and they provide methods whereby the goals of individuals and teams can cascade back up to top-level management for review. They hold managers and individuals accountable for setting goals, and provide means for those goals to be measured, tracked, reported, and rewarded.
Leaders that create alignment are willing to confront misalignment. They have the courage to follow through and turn words into actions. If people are not aligned they give them feedback. If they don’t change they have the courage to remove them from the organization. If work is misaligned they discontinue it. If entire functions in the organization no longer align to the overall mission they transition the work.
Leaders that create alignment don’t delegate key alignment activities to others. They go out into the organization to personally give direction, teach alignment, resolve concerns, and make needed change.
BELIEFS
BEST PRACTICES
SELF-REFLECTION
WORDS OF CAUTION
PSYCHOMETRIC 360 QUESTIONS
A straight road is always the fastest route between two points. In terms of leadership, alignment means ensuring everything in an organization is fine-tuned and in synch so there is a straight path to achieving results. Leaders that create real alignment between people and the organization’s work ensure the full energy of the organization is pointed in the right direction. They get the very most there is to be had out of people, processes, and tools. Leaders that fail to create alignment in an organization invite inefficiency, confusion, misdirection, waste, contention, missed opportunity, and failed commitment. Their inability to align the organization leads to dispersed strength instead of well harnessed and focused energy.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE
Leaders that create alignment take personal responsibility to ensure the direction and vision of the organization are clearly communicated and well understood. They provide a constant repetition of messages and activities to reinforce the message of vision and alignment to the vision over long periods of time. They know that unless people really understand where the organization is going they can’t successfully align their efforts or play their part.
Leaders that create alignment can turn a little into a lot. They get everything there is to be had out of an organization by making sure that time, resources, and energy don’t go to waste. They focus the total thrust of the organization on doing those things that matter most to achieving their vision. They have a crystal-clear picture of where the organization needs to go, plot how to get there, and weed out anything that could be a distraction, burden, or misdirection to their goals.
Leaders that create alignment design their organization in the most efficient and effective way. They ensure there is clear line of sight from every level of the organization to the next highest level. They align individuals to teams, teams to divisions, and divisions to departments. Their organizational design ensures everyone knows their place, has a role, and understands how they fit into the bigger picture.
Leaders that create alignment use formal systems and processes to reinforce alignment in the organization. They create tools to cascade their overall goals downward and they provide methods whereby the goals of individuals and teams can cascade back up to top-level management for review. They hold managers and individuals accountable for setting goals, and provide means for those goals to be measured, tracked, reported, and rewarded.
Leaders that create alignment are willing to confront misalignment. They have the courage to follow through and turn words into actions. If people are not aligned they give them feedback. If they don’t change they have the courage to remove them from the organization. If work is misaligned they discontinue it. If entire functions in the organization no longer align to the overall mission they transition the work.
Leaders that create alignment don’t delegate key alignment activities to others. They go out into the organization to personally give direction, teach alignment, resolve concerns, and make needed change.
BELIEFS
- If you are going to create alignment you need to start by having a clear vision of what people need to align to.
- There is no such thing as talking about the need for alignment too much. Work, by nature, will always tend towards misalignment.
- You can’t delegate the creation of alignment. As the leader, it is your job to go into the workplace and ignite its creation.
- Alignment cannot be harvested from one focused or ‘big-bang’ effort. It requires constant teaching and reinforcing.
- Alignment needs to be protected, even if that leads to making hard decisions like stopping work or letting people go.
- If people or teams no longer directly align to the direction of the organization the only right thing to do is move on and change.
- Talk of alignment has to be backed up with organizational designs that create alignment through tools, processes, and systems.
- Alignment simply means every person and activity in an organizational is unitedly aimed at achieving the same goal.
BEST PRACTICES
- Create a definitive vision and strategy.
- Help others understand the vision and strategy.
- Create “line of sight” for every team and person.
- Teach people how they fit into the big picture.
- Ensure goals align from the top to the bottom.
- Make sure everyone knows their role.
- Don’t let distractions take you off course.
- Help people align their work to the vision.
- Do an alignment audit on teams and divisions.
- Reinforce the “big picture” constantly.
- Map how things relate to each other.
- Keep laser focused on what really matters most.
- Be willing to let go of people who won’t align.
- Stop work that doesn’t tie to the strategy.
- Redesign organizations when needed.
- Do not bog down the organization with excess.
- Utilize organizational design principles.
- Get personally involved in creating alignment.
- Teach the principles of alignment often.
- Make alignment a management activity.
- Confront those whose behavior does not align.
- Assess alignment at least annually.
SELF-REFLECTION
- Do I provide constant teaching about the importance of alignment, or do I consider one discussion sufficient?
- Do I ensure all work in the organization aligns to the vision and strategy, or do I allow for work that doesn’t fit?
- Do I define the vision and mission clearly enough that people know what to align to, or do I fail to give needed clarity?
- Do I create a clear line of sight from every organizational level to its next level up, or do I fail to construct a clear connection?
- Do I confirm all goals, from the bottom to the top, perfectly support each other, or do I fail to ensure goals are aligned?
- Do I confront instances of misalignment in the organization, or do I let those instances go on without taking needed action?
- Do I personally carry the torch for alignment across the entire organization, or do I rely too much on others to do my work?
- Do I regularly confirm an absence of drift within the organization, or do I neglect to assess its ongoing state?
WORDS OF CAUTION
- Don’t overburden the process of creating alignment to the point it becomes a drag on results instead of a push forward.
- Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that once you align a person or part of the work that it will always stay aligned.
- Don’t accidentally create misalignment by focusing on coordinating so many things what really matters gets lost.
PSYCHOMETRIC 360 QUESTIONS
- I take personal responsibility for the success of the organization.
- Each individual’s goals should match the overall mission of the organization.
- I regularly check to make sure the day-to-day activities match the long-term goals.
- I help other people create attainable goals.
- I can quickly explain the purpose of the work I do.