As leadership teams are constantly pulled in numerous, oftentimes conflicting directions, it is crucial that they are aligned in order for the entire organization to remain focused, competitive, and agile. If leaders at every level are not on the same page, results become vulnerable. Alignment becomes even more important when an organization needs to transform its business.
In a recent Harvard Business Publishing survey, nearly 87 percent of 700 participating global business and learning and development (L&D) leaders said their organizations were either in the middle of a major transformation effort or had completed one in the past three years to address a priority strategy move.
A strategy adjustment, whether it’s completely new or a revision to an existing strategy, is usually a sign of flexibility and openness to ever-changing markets. However, it also requires considerable effort on the part of the leadership team to welcome a broader conversation and embrace an organization-wide behavior change. This effort is worth the time and thought investment to make sure the strategy is rolled out correctly and the impact is fully realized.
When leaders, starting from the top-level, are aligned on the new strategy and how the company will achieve it, they can be the driving force keeping the program on track. There are several ways to make sure that your leadership team is on the same page when preparing your organization for a strategic transition.
Leverage Learning Technologies to Communicate With Large Groups
Having consistent messaging can be a major challenge for organizations embarking on change. Approaches to strategic alignment that use learning technologies designed to reach large audiences—such as webcasts and large-cohort learning programs—provide shared, contextualized learning experiences for senior leaders. Such experiences, in turn, encourage spirited conversation about the change the organization wants to make and helps to propel strategies forward.By using these learning technologies, everyone has the opportunity to be an active member of the same conversation, with the ability to contribute ideas on how new innovations or processes can shift in order to meet the organization’s new strategy. Experts who can serve as functional or operational leaders can then be brought in to help link the learning to the organization’s strategy and goals.
Expose Learners to Experts
Engaging top-level leaders by exposing them to internal and external experts can open the door to new ideas and insights from shared experiences. External experts can be brought in to hold formal sessions, or simply sit down for a half hour, to provide conceptual frameworks and new methods of thinking that are actionable, memorable, and clear—such as frameworks outlining capabilities to improve strategic agility.The internal experts can then build on the learning content from the external experts to contextualize the learning to meet their organization’s specific goals, knowing how different components will fit best in the business’ specific processes and how to identify specific roles at each step of the program rollout and delegate among teams.
This approach also offers a shared vision and understanding for top-level leaders on the need for change, who can then relay this language to team members in a clear, concise, and meaningful way.
Transform Top-Level Leaders Into Teachers
Top-level leaders participating in strategic alignment programming can become teachers for their own teams, bringing them into the discussion about the organization’s new direction. This approach scales the learning across the organization quickly, helping all employees master the concepts related to the strategy and build a shared language for discussion. It also fosters a collective sense of ownership for the new strategy.Empowering top-level leaders to become advocates of the new strategy and serve as leaders-as-teachers with their mid-level leader teams also encourages ownership among mid-level leaders in driving the initiative forward. Confidence in the reasoning behind, and benefits of, the transition results in a more effective change strategy by raising awareness and transparency around the changes to come, allowing mid-level leaders to perform their critical role in propelling the execution of the strategy forward.
Implementing and executing a new strategic direction within an organization is no easy feat, but aligning everyone around the strategy’s vision, goals, and approach to change is the key to success. While there can be challenges to implementing an effective strategic alignment program, the right programming approach can minimize them. Leadership alignment programs that include these characteristics will have a true and lasting impact for any transition your organization takes on.
