Unlocking Team Synergy: Overcoming Misalignments And Building A Unified Vision For Success

Is your leadership team in alignment?

It seems like an easy question to answer, as no leader would intentionally lead a misaligned team, and no team believes they can win or perform at their best if they are not in sync.

Yet, misalignment happens all the time. Despite (or maybe even because of) best efforts, leadership teams can experience misalignments which profoundly impact their ability to function at peak performance. This can have significant ripple effects for those they serve.

Recognizing misalignments is critical. To get started, pose these simple questions to each member of your leadership team. To avoid groupthink or anchor bias, do so individually and request the answers in writing:

How would you describe the organization’s ambition?
What are our most important strategic priorities?
What measures and metrics are we using to track our progress?

If the answers to any one of these questions vary, in more than what might be explained as style preferences, you likely do have alignment issues. These may be micro-alignment issues, or they may be more significant. Regardless, the only decision you cannot afford to make is inaction, hoping they will get better. They will not. Misalignments are like an infection. They tend to worsen and spread to other parts of the organization.

The solution to misalignment may be something simple, or it may be more involved. But you will have taken the first, important step – to recognize and be willing to confront the issue. This requires humility by the team and its leader.

Assuming you do identify misalignments, no matter how large or small, here are a few tools and strategies that can help you build a foundation for consensus and a clear vision for the future as a team. Lack of either or both of these (alignment or clear ambition) can lead to missed opportunities, disengaged teams, and hindered growth, putting your organization at a competitive disadvantage in the market.

Four strategies to consider:

Understand where your team is coming from. Use surveys, focus groups and one-on-one discussions with key leaders to determine the unique context of your team, challenges, and opportunities. You must gain an understanding of the essential behaviors, habits, and mindsets needed to shift from current practices to desired outcomes.
Bring your team together. Foster collaboration and lay the groundwork for a unified vision of the future. Allow for debate over specific language (vs turning the process over to your communications group). That effort, while frustrating, builds lasting alignment. Sessions such as these can set the stage for a shared, ambitious direction for your team, company, or division.
Embrace diverse points of view. I’m not suggesting that misalignment is good, but when it does exist, be open to the possibility you may be dealing with diverse ideas which have not been fully vetted and understood. As you work through the process of alignment, these different ideas may represent unexpected value.
Take a clear look forward, together. Once you are aligned on your objectives, build a specific plan to move forward, outlining major milestones and critical workstreams necessary to achieve your transformation goals.

The hard, specific work of building these kinds of key actions in and around your leadership team and organization will pay off in the end. The unity and understanding will help your teams move forward with a shared purpose – which is one of the true ways to drive growth and innovation.

Rick Western is Chief Executive Officer of Kotter Inc.

Kotter has introduced an Accelerated Change Roadmap to help organizations and teams quickly build alignment, vision, and a foundation for the future. Click here to learn more: https://bit.ly/3UfO26D.

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