How We Work #2: Alignment Building Projects

In this post, let’s dive into the Alignment Building projects we undertake at Align By Design .

Who Do We Work With?

There are several critical junctures when alignment building becomes essential for organizations and leaders. Here are a few scenarios:

Scaling Up

When an organization has moved past its existential problems, transitioning from the 0-1 stage to 1-3, 3-5, or 5-10 stages, alignment building becomes crucial. There is no clear, universally accepted measure of these stages, so we use thumb rules to understand them. For example:

• Has the organization figured out how to make money in a repeatable, profitable manner?
• Do they have four or more leaders besides the founders who significantly influence the people or functions they lead?
• Does the organization have three or more layers of leadership?
• Has the employee count surpassed the Dunbar number, where the CEO doesn’t 'know' every new hire?
• Are new hires joining the organization or just the founders?

It’s challenging to put these in a checklist, so we intuitively sense this. Our clients and those who introduce us to them also 'get' this.

Transition

Alignment building is crucial when a new CEO takes over or significant changes occur in an organization, such as changes in market conditions, pivots, expansion into new geographies or markets, re-branding, divestment into a new entity, new ownership, or M&A events. These are easily identifiable triggers. When an organization must change the way it has been working or re-evaluate its earlier methods, we step in. We help them understand the current state (what’s working well and what’s not), articulate their desired identity, and figure out how to bridge the gap.

Crisis

When things have significantly gone south, such as signs of a toxic culture, business results not aligning with the people and market potential, or high-profile exits leaving emotional scars across the organization, it's a good time to take stock and recommit to your purpose and vision.

The Role of Investors, Board Members, and Advisors

Often, the need for building alignment can be a blind spot for the top leader. This is where investors, board members, and advisors play a crucial role. These individuals usually have the experience, distance, and perspective to see things clearly and have the CEO's ear.

A Caveat

We work with leaders ready to be shown the mirror. Leaders who are not open to learning and change, who haven’t transitioned from 'my company' to 'our company', or who haven’t accepted having smarter people on their team will struggle working with us. We absolutely suck at sucking up. We understand that change takes time, but if the top leader is not ready to change, failure is guaranteed.