Aligning People and Strategy

Alignment is not about

• Fads that make more money for their promotor than for those who buy in to it. The client should make more money out of an engagement than the consultant!
• 'Motivation'. You simply can't motivate someone who is not interested, so if they aren't on your wavelength, or you can't find a way for you to get on the same wavelength, there's no point sending them driving, sailing or golfing in the hope they will be more interested in work when they get back.
• Bending over backwards to accommodate 'worthy' agendas that actually disempower the very employees they purport to champion.

Alignment is about

• Education ( in its traditional sense of "drawing out") rather than training (which comes from the Latin for "dragging behind"). Helping people to understand how engaging with a planned course of action is actually in their best interests (of course, if it's not in their best interests, you have more work to do up front, before trying to gain their commitment).
• Accountability. You can't delegate to people who won't deliver. And if you can't delegate, you can't lead, and you can't grow. Accountability has to be meticulously fostered by leaders at all levels in the organisation.
• A sense of a fair and equitable exchange of value between the business and its employees, taking place in an atmosphere of respect. Neither side should be bending over backwards, though both side will probably have to bend a bit at times.