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If your back has ever been out of alignment, you know how much it can negatively impact your whole body. A back out of whack can stifle your movement, increase joint pains, increase fatigue, and even interfere with your digestive system! In severe cases, it can be incapacitating. Similarly, a leadership team out of alignment can wreak havoc on an organization鈥檚 well-being. Depending on the severity, it can be mildly uncomfortable or a 鈥渟uffer fest鈥� that drags the organization down.

Alignment is a key performance indicator of long-term organizational health. When I conduct an organizational health assessment, I am investigating the degree to which there is strategic and cultural alignment. Is the leadership team aligned on the vision and direction of the organization? Are leaders pursuing the same goals and priorities? Do they share the same business philosophies and values?

Misalignment does not always show up immediately. We start a business, a project, or an initiative with enthusiastic optimism. As we encounter issues, we may believe they are too small to address, or we are consumed and distracted by other priorities. Often it feels too uncomfortable to address the fissure, so we ignore it and hope it will smooth itself out. (Hint: It rarely goes away on its own.)

Impacts of misalignment

When we experience misalignment, we waste time and resources; question decisions, actions, intentions; are less efficient; are unclear about our authority; and feel less confident, more stressed, more uncertain. And if the misalignment is significant and prolonged, we might even start sabotaging our own team members.

Below are three noteworthy ailments that can erode trust:

• Conflicting priorities and differing agendas. Leadership teams who have not mapped out and created agreement around a clear, unifying vision will sow confusion with employees, resulting in a loss of credibility and a waste of precious resources. That waste can be significant enough to impact profitability.
• Communication breakdowns. The longer that misalignment is tolerated, the more likely it is that communications 鈥� and relationships 鈥� deteriorate. Too much energy is spent in quiet frustration, building one鈥檚 case, or unproductive arguments. There might be hoarding of knowledge, exclusion of voices, or avoidance of issues.
• Poor decision-making and power grabs. In the context of misalignment, informed and thoughtful decisions are hard to come by. Individuals may leverage the space of indecisiveness to drive their own agendas.

Cultivated alignment

Conversely, when we are aligned with our team, we experience heightened clarity and connection. We tend to be more focused, feel more confident in making decisions, collaborate more effectively, and are better stewards of our resources. All teams start to operate with more intentionality and synergy. The impact on an organization鈥檚 culture and bottom line is powerful.

The leadership team as the first team

Leadership team members usually have an affinity for and an alignment with their day-to-day teams (i.e., CFOs see their teams as the accounting folks, business development directors identify with their BD and marketing teammates, operational directors connect with their program/project managers.) That is essential for executing goals.

However, if you serve on a leadership team, I invite you to see that team as the one you need to maximize your alignment and build strong rapport because collectively you will set the stage for what is possible. If you invest in leadership team alignment, you will be serving your direct reports and the capacity for cross-departmental benefits.

If you want to build alignment, you will need to hone the skills of relationship building. Susan David, author of 鈥淓motional Agility,鈥� noted, 鈥淎s knowledge is increasingly commoditized, we are entering the age of the heart. The capacity to empathize, perspective-take, build trust, and regulate emotions are among the human skills that are the key capacities of the future.鈥�

Take the K Challenge:

You might be wondering, where do you start?

• Get to the heart of the matter. Find out where your leadership team is aligned, and where there are differences of opinion. Teams don鈥檛 have to agree on everything (and won鈥檛), but there needs to be unified decisions and directions to effectively guide others.
• Establish a decision-making process that vets shared decisions in such a way that all voices are heard, understood, and considered. A well-thought-out decision, with criteria that assess risks and opportunities, will bring more confidence and credibility.
• Learn to listen with the intent to understand and not build your case. Making time to understand someone else鈥檚 perspective is not only smart but also a sign of respect.
• Build trust. Aligned leadership teams have earned each other鈥檚 trust by being transparent, competent, and forthright.

As we emerge from the uncertainties of the past few years, there seems to be a collective desire to recalibrate. This is a perfect time to create the kind of energy-harnessing adjustment that can move your organization forward!

Karen Natzel is a business therapist who helps leaders create healthy, vibrant and high-performing organizations. Contact her at 503-806-4361 or [email protected].

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91视频 guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.