In today’s race to the top, are you sure that your leadership team understands and buys into your vision and goals and if not, what’s the problem? Are they focusing on their own politics or are they truly listening and want to achieve the goals that are necessary to sustain and succeed as a company?
During my career in the Coast Guard, our most successful missions happened when we all agreed on the outcomes first – and we were all hands on deck in hearts and mind at all times. During a more “misaligned mission” off the coast of Alaska, we almost ran aground. At the last moment, when it was almost too late, we were able to alter course and avoid a near tragedy. It wasn’t until the last minute that we realized our team needed to be realigned. As a CEO, don’t wait until the last minute to find out if you are about to run aground.
Here is what you can do to get the ship headed back in the right direction.
- Ensure goals are laid out clearly. Be explicit about the “why” behind your goals. Why did you create these goals? Were the goals co-created with others? If so, who? How do they connect systemically with the organization. If you don’t achieve these goals, what could happen as a result?
- Check yourself. Interview executives and employees at different levels to see if your message is aligned and understood.
- Collect data. You only know what you measure. We used a scorecard to see if the goals of the executive team is aligned. The more you can see, the better decision you can make.
