Strategic Alignment vs. Strategic Agreement
Smart leaders and those who facilitate strategy retreats know that strategic alignment does not mean agreement.
The Research: What Strategic Alignment Can Do for Your Business
The power of strategic alignment occurs when every part of the organization is working in a unified fashion to implement the “intentions” that define the business strategy in a way that makes sense to the business AND the people. Our organizational alignment research found that highly aligned companies not only grow revenue 58% faster and are 72% more profitable, but they also outperform unaligned organizations at these rates:
And it all starts with the executive team. In fact, strategic clarity accounts for 31% of the difference between high and low performing leadership teams.
Strategic Alignment Does Not Mean Agreement
But don’t make the common mistake of thinking that strategic alignment means that all stakeholders must agree. Reaching 100% agreement on every high stake strategic issue is not only difficult, but full consensus is not very realistic across different internal and external constituents.
The executive team does not need to agree with every decision, but each and every leader must get behind and commit to supporting the plan of action 100%. That means NO BACK-CHANNELING once a decision has been made. It also means NOT saying “Well I disagree, but I’ll do whatever you want.” That is not agreeing or aligning. That is abdicating responsibility.
When the stakes are high, we want people to say: “Well I may disagree, but I am onboard and fully support this moving forward. Thank you for hearing me out”
A Client Example
A recent executive team was debating a critical go-to-market choice related to operationalizing their new unique value proposition. But the leadership could not reach a satisfactory decision in one of their executive team meetings. Frustrated with ineffective conversation, they turned to the CEO for answers. Disappointed in her team’s inability to make strategic decisions, she made the final call on how to proceed and shut down the conversation without sharing the rationale behind her decision. And like most leadership teams caught in this situation, not everyone liked the decision; some key players on her team resented being told an answer that did not fit with their personal or professional agenda.
As you can imagine, the strategic initiative stalled because it did not have enough leadership team support.
What Should This Leadership Team Have Done Differently?
The Bottom Line
Strategies do not need agreement; strategies need alignment. Strategic misalignment at the executive level threatens the health and success of the entire organization. You can have disagreements, but every leader should visibly commit to moving the plan forward. Is your strategy clear enough, believable enough, and implementable enough for the executive team to commit to?
To learn more about creating strategic alignment, download 7 Proven Ways to Stress Test Your Current Strategy Now
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