Why An Aligned Team Always Changes The Game

Regular alignment of the trajectory of movement increases the likelihood of hitting a target

Have you ever had the misfortune of sitting in a meeting where the team on the other side of the table was visibly not on the same page? Have you been THAT team? I know I have and nothing is more uncomfortable than that. Especially if you see the other side of the table exchanging glances in response to your confusion.

This can happen to the best of us and it is usually a symptom of a brewing problem. Maybe it’s time you realign on mission and goals. Do you need to have more conversations? Have you been too busy to pause and make sure you’re working towards the same goal? It becomes increasingly clear why an omnipresent reminder of big goals is necessary. This doesn’t mean boring people with mission meetings every week. No. Maybe it’s time to boil down your mission to a catchy one liner that guides all your projects. Maybe it’s time you ask your team what they understand from the big mission. You might be surprised at what they say.

A recent example of a team making waves globally is Accenture Interactive. Led by Brian Whipple, who is seeking to revolutionize customer experience, they are making strides that are shaking the entire marketing and business world. Whipple’s team has flipped the script on what consulting has traditionally looked like. Managing to disrupt consulting, business, marketing and the agency world in one fell swoop. The recent acquisition of the award winning Droga5 has hit all global news headlines. I cannot wait to see what work will come out of this new partnership.

Accenture Interactive is a big company large and well financed tentacles but we can borrow something to apply today. What is your businesses driving force? What is the audacious goal you want to meet? Does the team know and believe it? Is there a roadmap? Watching Accenture while looking at my day to day operations has shifted how I think about the business of leading.

These are weighty questions whose answers are a daily consideration in any leader’s mind. But a good place I have began is to ask myself this question daily. Is the company aligned? Regular alignment of the trajectory of movement increases the likelihood of hitting a target.