...and why is that important?

Growing up I learned how to take care of my cars myself. Tune-ups, wheels, brakes, engine timing etc. were all things that kept my cars running. And just as driving a car out of alignment decreases fuel efficiency and adds wear and tear to the vehicle, so leading a business or organization out of alignment is just as inefficient and, I could argue, irresponsible in today's current economic environment.

So what do we mean by "Business Alignment"? Wikipedia identifies no less than 15 definitions depending on whether you are a role-playing gamer or a biochemist. To a leader in today's business environment, it means the level of congruence between the Vision of the business to the desired results expected from day to day operations. What we know to be true is when a business achieves alignment it holds a competitive advantage through increased effectiveness and efficiencies. What is a competitive advantage worth to your business in 2009?

Business Alignment is much easier to define than execute as it occurs throughout the entire business. If you look at championship teams in any professional sport you find it's not just the players on the field who contributed to the overall success. The front office, the back office, the coaches, scouts and support staff all had a role to play and were very much aligned to the desired result - win the championship. When it comes to your business Super Bowl, is your Vision and Business Strategies in alignment with your team on (in) the field? Are you making the necessary game plan adjustments as your competitor(s) change their game plans mid game? Is your support staff recruiting capable and compatible people and training more than one deep in key positions? Finally, are the business goals robust enough for the new rules of your marketplace?

As this is a crucial element of success for businesses large and small, I will focus the next two issues on how businesses can use the business alignment process to align themselves internally (February 2009) for greater operational results as well as externally to provide additional value to their customers (March 2009).

Lead Well!

Rick Lochner
President
RPC Leadership Associates, Inc.

One of the best means to challenge you as a leader is to question your current processes, habits or behaviors. In Fail-Safe Leadership, Linda Martin and Dr. David Mutchler further explore the idea of business alignment as a crucial element of leadership. They define effective leadership as one's ".ability to set goals and achieve desired results - nothing more, nothing less" The crucial element of leadership in this environment lies in defining what the desired results are and develop people and processes to link those results to the business vision. All too often leaders develop their people and processes and hope those efforts achieve desired results.

What makes this book so useful to a business owner, large or small, are the questions at the end of each chapter to help the reader create new attitudes around their current business. The answers to those questions determine how well aligned we are to ultimately enable a competitive advantage.

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