Just as alignment is key to your automobile running efficiently and not wearing down the tires, alignment of your management team is also key.

Unfortunately, it is also rare. Such misalignment results in silos, miscommunication, misunderstanding and unempowered employees.

So how do you ensure your management team is in alignment? Ask them each independently what are the vision, mission, values and strategic positioning of the firm.

  • Vision — What do we want to be? Where do we want to go? The desired end state at some future time that everyone on the team can embrace. A sense of the possible, aspirational and attainable. Visualization of the destination. Unique.

  • Mission — The purpose of the organization outside the company – beyond profits or market position. If executed properly, pursuit of the mission will lead to the realization of the vision.

  • Values — The unwavering principles that guide how we conduct business. Innate elements of the company, brand, product or service which differentiate and help the communications truly reflect the company.

  • Strategic positioning — The long-term positive differentiation of the company, brand or service. Must be true. Long-lasting. Differentiating. Not a tagline, though the tagline may be the creative expression of the positioning.
I have rarely seen a management team that’s in alignment and it wreaks havoc on the rest of the organization. Employees are confused because they are getting conflicting messages from the manage team. Silos continue to exist because each line-of-business (LOB) is working towards their own goal that is not in alignment with the companies goals.
In order for employees to provide an outstanding customer experience, they must be empowered to do so. If customer service representatives (CSR’s) are being measured on how quickly they handle a call, is that in the best interest of the customer and consistent with providing an outstanding customer experience?
Is providing an outstanding customer experience a key value of your organization? Is it reflected in your vision, mission and strategic positioning?
It’s imperative for everyone in the organization to be “singing from the same hymnal” in order to accelerate sales performance, drive customer satisfaction, repeat business, referrals and profits.
What are you doing to ensure that your management team, and all you team members, are in alignment?

Article tags:

accelerate sales performancemissionstrategic positioningvaluesvision
Tom Smith

Tom Smith

Experienced marketing professional who has worked with more than 120 clients in 18 different vertical industries. ♦ Differentiate products and services by improving UX and delivering memorable CX to create an emotional connection to the brand. ♦ Obtain insights from analytics to solve business problems and drive revenue. ♦ Develop and implement marketing campaigns that double traffic and leads in three months. ♦ Certified Marketing Automation Professional ♦ Certified Voice of the Customer (VOC) Professional