CEOs are often left wondering whether their people truly understand their vision. It's a dangerous place to be, and it's a difficult situation to diagnose and address. My colleague Jimmy Leppert explores the extent of what is lost if leaders ignore the issue, as well as the best ways to ensure clarity of your vision.
When you step on stage at the company meeting, are those smiling, nodding heads really absorbing the new company vision and goals for the year? According to a recent Harvard Business Review article, “When CEOs Talk Strategy, Is Anyone Listening?” only a fraction of our workforce is really clued in. The article cites recent research which says that even in high-performing companies with “clearly articulated public strategies,” only 29% of their employees can correctly identify their company’s strategy out of six choices.
This is not the strategy du jour. This is your company’s core, single most important strategic statement – a definition of why the business exists and why it’s worth investing in for the future. That means 70% (7 out of 10) of all employees (yes, even yours) are unknowingly misaligned with your company’s strategic direction.
Misalignment – What’s Missing
Regardless of the surface issues, this problem will go much deeper to drag your company down. As part of senior leadership, this misalignment falls squarely on your shoulders. There is a lot to be gained here – and waste to be trimmed – if your employees, at all levels, understand your vision and strategic goals:
- “Clarity = speed”. This is one of my favorite quotes from my colleague, Ken Perlman. Misalignment slows down your entire organization. It’s the ultimate time waster. Just imagine, if the vision is unclear 70% of your company doesn’t know what they are striving toward and operating on false assumptions, your team will move slowly and defensively rather than swiftly and proactively. Worst of all, they might be off and running, applying valuable energy in the wrong direction. With a clear understanding of the strategic priorities, people will move quickly to get you closer to those goals.
- Permission = action. Explaining what you want done doesn’t necessarily communicate who you want to do it. If traditionally there are only a few go-to people that work on these projects, they’ll continue to do the work. Not just because they’re the only ones who want to, but because there’s a pattern created here where others feel they aren’t allowed. What a waste of talent! If you’ve communicated clearly that you are looking for the entire organization to contribute, people at all levels will use their unique perspective and skills to break through barriers traditionally unavoidable because only the “usual suspects” were expected to contribute.
- Alignment = acceleration. Executives often ask me, “I come in every day focused on these goals … and I’ve asked others to step up, but why aren’t they?” When goals are communicated in different ways, with even a slight misalignment, people get confused and fearful of taking action, and they’re afraid to ask whether they’ve misunderstood. With goals laid out clearly and consistently, you create alignment which will significantly accelerate the effort made toward the implementation of your strategies.
With the severity of the problem and the benefits of eliminating it clearly articulated, here are the three steps you can take now to bring alignment and get people participating across your company:
- Take the time to be clear. Your role as a leader is to create a vision and strategy that are clear enough for employees to take actions, every day, to reach these goals. Create alignment first at the senior most level. Dedicate the needed time – maybe a full day – to bringing clarity and alignment to your 2-4 most important strategic priorities. Sound like too much time for this? You can’t afford NOT to spend that time to ensure everyone is fully aligned and focused to gain market share, increase margins, increase efficiencies, etc. I bet those 8-hours would garner the highest return on investment of any all year.
- Crowdsource implementation. Create a movement by setting aside the time, gathering anticipation and excitement, announcing the vision in the clearest and most intimate way, then asking for help in figuring out how to reach these goals. If your people at all levels did just one thing to contribute, it would instantly make a significant impact.
- Celebrate contribution. Make public any efforts on the part of individuals that help achieve the strategy. This sets the example, shows the connection between effort and outcome, and inspires others to make a contribution as well.
I’m not making a blind bet here – I’ve seen our clients come through on the other end of this process with a crystal-clear sense of alignment around their strategic priorities. Alignment is the first step in accelerating the implementation of those priorities and, ultimately, in reaching your goals.
Jimmy Leppert is an engagement leader at Kotter International (www.kotterinternational.com), a firm that helps leaders accelerate strategy implementation in their organizations. John Kotter is the chief innovation officer at Kotter International and is the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus, at Harvard Business School.
*** For more about how organizations can develop the agility required to succeed in today’s rapidly changing world, read Dr. Kotter's recent article, "Accelerate!” available from the Harvard Business Review.
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