Here is an outdated belief that stubbornly persists: “If we just align ourselves to shared objectives and have role clarity, we will deliver high performance.”
The idea that creating alignment is merely an intellectual exercise explains why so many employees must grit their teeth and suffer through unnecessary meetings, complexity and poor results.
To be certain, your team has a higher chance of success when you:
- Agree on the purpose and outcomes of a plan
- Clarify roles and responsibilities
- Determine how success is measured
- Ensure rewards and consequences are fairly shared.
These classic principles or “ways of working” remain important. We are, however, no longer in the classic epoch of leadership. This is the modern era, a period when A) plans change faster than they can be executed, and B) employees insist on a more meaningful experience.
Today, aligning a team requires going beyond ways of working – to orienting team members to ways of being. Greater success occurs when team members are:
- Authentically connected as humans
- United in core beliefs
- Curious and defenseless when problem solving
- Making decisions while suppressing the ego
- Bringing out the best in one another.
Is your team aligned to ways of being? If so, you will truly be working well.
P.S. There are specific, replicable actions collaborative leaders take to ensure their teams are aligned to ways of being. We’re excited to share those practices in our next interactive Activation Session. Join us on Thursday, March 24 by registering here. (If you cannot attend, register anyway and we will send you a recording of the session.) Tell your boss it’s free.
