Chapter 9
Alignment Subsystem
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Written & Read By
Doug Hall
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Chapter Excerpt
Enabling Organizational Alignment
Alignment means there is agreement first among the leadership and second between the leadership and the organization, from middle management to frontline employees.
Deming Master Walter Werner wrote of the importance of setting a clear vision. This applies to leaders of teams, departments, divisions, and organizations.
Leadership isn’t about managing things and telling people what to do with those things. Leadership starts with a vision. Leadership creates a plan to accomplish the vision. Leadership then shares and explains the plan. Finally, leadership sets the entire organization on a path to fulfill the plan. The only thing you need to manage is matching resources to the plan, as they are required.
How many executives think their role is to manage the stock price, market share, customer satisfaction, the board, and the media. Do all that exceedingly well and your competitors will put you out of business in five years.
The statistics about how few people are engaged are depressing. Only leadership can change that. Everything we do must eventually persuade, educate, motivate, and kick start leadership. You can start at the bottom, the middle, or the top depending on which doors are open to you. In the end, there is still only one goal: to change the way leadership is practiced.