Leading the company · Newsletter 02
How aligned is your leadership team—really?
You may be working well together and still have different ideas of what success looks like.
Ask each member of your leadership team to answer three questions independently.
- What three outcomes would represent outstanding success for the company?
- What three accomplishments will you deliver to help produce those outcomes?
- What three contributions will you make to help your peers succeed?
Have each person write down their answers before discussing them as a group. Then post the answers on a whiteboard or flip chart, organized under each question.
The range of responses may surprise you.
In one company, this exercise produced more than 30 different answers to the first question alone. Everyone was working hard, but they were not working toward the same picture of success.
You do not have to agree on everything. First, see where you stand.
Where are you aligned?
Where have you been assuming agreement that may not exist?
What conversation is now worth having?
And after that conversation:
What becomes possible now that you have a clearer picture of where you agree?