work of leaders:alignment
DESCRIPTION
Part two of the Work of Leaders model of Vision, Alignment, and Execution. Use with Everything DiSC Work of Leaders training.TRANSCRIPT
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Activities for Everything DiSC®
Work of Leaders
| vision || ALIGNMNENT |
| execution |
DiSC® is a registered trademark of Everything DiSC, a Wiley Brand.
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Source modelWork of Leaders (Everything DiSC profile and book)
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Alignment“Building alignment is the act of gaining buy-in for your vision and it’s absolutely critical in moving from imagination to reality.”
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
AlignmentBuilding alignment means ensuring that each and every person understands his or her role in making the vision a reality.
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
How would you score?Our leader …
gives enough detail to clarify what’s expected.
makes sure we all understand a difficult topic/procedure.
fully forms his/her thoughts before communicating.
stays focused; doesn’t go off on tangents.
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/demibrooke/2336528544/
“The less people know, the more they yell.”
—Seth Godin
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Alignment tip: Provide clarity
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
“What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Cool Hand Luke
It’s not easy.
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
“… one thing drove my success: the effort I put into synthesizing all the messages coming out of a company into one strong story line. … Today, companies can no longer assume that inconsistencies in their stories will go unnoticed.”
– Steve GirskyGM Vice Chairman
Many Stakeholders, One Story, Harvard Business Review
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Do you need help explaining your rationale?
Offer
Explain intuition
rationale
For the purpose of creating alignment, you’ll be more successful moving towards the behavior on the right.
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Explaining your rationale
•
Discuss ways to get beyond “because I said so” and “isn’t it obvious.”
•
How can you make your decision process more transparent?
•
How can you tell when you’ve explained enough?
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
How do you structure your messages?
Impromptu
Structured
For the purpose of creating alignment, you’ll be more successful moving towards the behavior on the right.
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Try it:
Structuring your messages
•
What’s your headline? •
What are your talking points?
•
Do you have a story to illustrate your message?•
Are there images, photos, charts that could amplify your message?
•
How do your actions reinforce your message?
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Evaluate your messages
•
What messages are circulating now? (yours or others)
•
You might be sick of repeating your message, but are others tired of hearing it?
•
Do they need to hear
it again another way?•
Can they repeat it in their own way?
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Exchanging perspectives
“The factor that had the highest correlation with job satisfaction was “a chance to have my opinions heard and considered.’”
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Present Exchange Information Perspectives
Challenging
Receptive
Dialogue Where do you generally fall?
Dialogue Where do you generally fall?
Dialogue Where do you generally fall?
Dialogue Where do you generally fall?
For the purpose of creating alignment, you’ll be more successful moving towards the behavior on the right.
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Being receptive“But results-oriented leaders are often those who
struggle the most with the receptivity needed to gain alignment. It’s really hard to be challenging and receptive at the same time.”
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Dialogue questions•
How do you prove your receptivity, your willingness to listen to other ideas?
•
Is your door really open?•
Are you easy to find, schedule a meeting with?
•
Do you check in with only a few people?•
How do you prove that you’re listening or have heard and understood?
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Strategies•
Hold open forums or create other safe spaces.
•
Give people enough time to gather their thoughts.
•
Go face-to-face, enter another’s space.•
Management by walking around (MBWA)
•
Watch your body language.•
Use active listening signals.
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Matter-of-fact
Encouraging
Reserved Expressive
Inspiration Where do you generally fall?
For the purpose of creating alignment, you’ll be more successful moving towards the behavior on the right.
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.
- Zig Ziglarauthor of Born to Win
motivational speaker
Image by United States Army.
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Show me, tell me.•
Why are you excited about this vision or change?
•
How will it make my life better, the world better?
•
What can go right?•
What might the future look like?
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Being expressive“Being expressive isn’t grandstanding or hollow charm.”
Image source: http://stormsketch.deviantart.com/art/Expressive-276702460
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Encourage me•
Are you proactive in giving positive feedback, showing your belief in the abilities of your staff?
•
What’s your team’s rallying cry?
•
Remember your lessons from DiSC: what motivates you might not encourage me.
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
“It’s one thing to come up with an innovative idea, but it’s another thing to make that idea seem less terrifying, burdensome, or impossible to achieve.”
-
Whitney Johnsonco-founder of Rose Park Advisors
Image by .Martin.
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
“CEOs have to provide leadershipin various ways. Like architects,they must lay out a vision. Likeengineers, they worry about
making things run efficiently. But above all, they must recognize their people’s desire to build great things, and work with that creative energy.”
– Edward E. NusbaumCEO of Grant Thornton
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Try it:
Create the messageA.
Your own message or vision.
B.
Staff cuts will be made in the next quarter in your unit/company.
C.
We’re a company that puts the customer first.D.
Innovation is our top priority for this year.
E.
We’ll now be using a new metric for determining success.
Pick one or practice the following exercises with them all.
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Share how you will communicate…
•
Formally (annual report, media interview)•
Informally (humor, elevator encounter)
•
Face-to-face (body language, stories, questions)•
Virtually (email, advertising, images)
How does your message change to fit each medium?
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Share how you will communicate …•
Up to senior leadership/investors/board
•
Across to colleagues•
Down to subordinates
•
Out to consumers, investors, talent pool
How well do you know your audiences’ expectations, needs, interests?
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
“In an aligned organization, every employee—from the executive suite to the
loading dock—understands not only the strategy and goals of the business, but also how his or her work contributes to them.”
– George LabovitzFounder and CEO of ODI
Work of Leaders: ALIGNMENT
Additional materials•
Work of Leaders: VISION slides
•
Work of Leaders: EXECUTION slides•
Everything DiSC Work of Leaders Facilitation Kit
•
Work of Leaders Supplemental Readings•
The Work of Leaders: How Vision, Alignment, and Execution Will Change the Way You Lead
•
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