We work with leadership teams around the world every day and we have one goal in mind, to help them establish greater alignment between their corporate vision, strategy and story.

Alignment that must be attained between…

  • The C-suite and leaders across the organization
  • Line-of-business leaders, managers and frontline employees
  • Marketing teams and the customer experience
  • Sales representatives and customer conversations

The truth is, most executives would be terrified to see the serious disconnect that exists within each level of their organization as it relates to …

Vision (where they desire to take the organization)
Strategy (the plan to get there)
Story (words and actions employees use to bring the vision and strategy to life)

As an executive you might ask, ‘Does organizational clarity and alignment really matter?’ Well, you decide.

Here are three real‑world examples of where we have seen it surface and how it has negatively impacted business performance …

  1. The C-suite had spent six months communicating a go-to-market strategy that included three growth initiatives. Yet when we surveyed line-of-business leaders in the organization to capture their sales and marketing priorities … the growth initiatives never even surfaced.
  2. A CEO had been communicating the company’s vision for more than a year. However, when we asked employees in a workshop how the vision impacted their daily work activities, they said … it didn’t.
  3. At the beginning of the year, the executive team had defined and communicated three core markets and offerings they wanted to focus on. Yet when we audited the company’s sales enablement tools and digital content … only 20% of it aligned with the strategic opportunities they were trying to pursue.

As a C-suite executive, ask yourself …

  • How can we attain our vision if employees don’t see how it plays a role in their daily work activities?
  • How can we achieve our growth objectives if leaders don’t operationalize strategic initiatives in the field?
  • How can we attack defined market opportunities if the story we are sharing in the market doesn’t align?

Now, these may seem like simple issues to solve. And if that was all there was to it — they would be. However, symptoms such as these usually represent larger alignment challenges in areas such as: leadership accountability, internal communications, corporate culture, operating models, sales compensation plans and marketing strategies.

For some executive teams, this comes as a positive surprise, and they welcome the idea of surfacing and addressing barriers that prevent the company from achieving a higher level of performance. Other executives who are looking for a quick, cosmetic fix … quickly lose their appetite for what it will really take to achieve greater organizational alignment.

After doing this for more than 17 years, we’ve seen executives who fall in both camps. That’s why, before we engage with clients, we explain that what we are about to undertake is much more than a messaging or marketing exercise. It will have implications in almost every dimension of the business. Which camp do you fall into?

No matter how you answer this question, just remember that establishing alignment between your vision, strategy and story is hard. Operationalizing it is even more difficult. However, executive teams that make it a priority and stay the course … improve employee engagement, increase customer retention and create high‑performing businesses.