Alignment
Alignment of strategy and focus of effort is important to deliver success, especially today when wasted effort may be the difference between staying in business and going bankrupt. Most organizations do some sort of strategic planning, but many fail to actually follow any plan throughout the organization to ensure that they get any of it done.
Alignment at the senior team level on what is most important is sometimes the problem, while other times it is a lack of follow through and accountability. According to Jon Katzenbach in Teams at the Top, the senior members of a team often have divided loyalties. They are on the senior team running the organization, but they are also heads of their divisions or departments. Because of this, hidden agendas may keep senior teams from functioning as solidly as they might.
However, when a senior team is aligned on a single direction for the organization and each team member ensures that each supporting department is in alignment with its focus of attention, there is a greater chance of success. People will know why they are doing what they are doing and feel they are truly contributing to something worthwhile.
