The Key to Strategic Alignment – ElPropósito3 min de lectura

Which question has the biggest impact on culture and change?

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I’ve always believed in individual freedom and in each person’s abilities more than in a tribal view. I also believe in the strengths of a team over those of a group. I think the real work of a leader in charge of people or teams should focus as much on shaping Visions, Strategies and Values as on making sure each person’s Purpose lines up with them, and on living in line with what they think, say and do.

There’s a line I love, attributed to Peter Drucker: "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." It matters most when we need change most. Culture is how a group organizes itself, a pattern that shapes and describes what is and isn’t acceptable. It’s a system that reflects how values play out, from whatever angle you look at it.

So if a system made of people expresses its behavior through culture, and culture reflects its beliefs, or what "this group normally accepts", what’s the key to changing that system? Part of the answer lies in keeping an individual lens and always focusing on the person over the group.

Change starts with the individual. When people identify and become aware of their own visions, their values and, above all, their life purpose (their reason for being in this world), they naturally start to question their situation and surroundings. It’s a hugely valuable moment and the main trigger for change, especially cultural change, which sets off a powerful chain reaction that spreads easily.

By nature, we humans want to be happy, live in peace and enjoy wellbeing. That clearly comes from doing something we love that fits who we want to be. The pieces of the cultural puzzle fall into place when people discover that who they want to be, their values and their visions fit perfectly with their surroundings and the work they’ve been given.

Another big answer for change is a clear, simple, aligned plan. Clear and simple is easy to write. Alignment is the challenge. Real alignment goes further than communicating the plans that will take us from point A to point B and telling people how their work feeds the change. By alignment I mean, to sum up all of the above, that people will always be the ones carrying out plans, and they should ask whether their purpose, values and visions line up with the proposed vision, strategies, goals and plans.

How aligned is your Purpose, your reason for being in this world, with the world around you? Do you share the same vision? Are you doing what you love, and is it giving you the wellbeing you long for? What’s in your hands to create your own change?

Have a great weekend, and all the best,

Rodrigo Baccaro

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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