As I mentioned in both of those posts, our personality styles impact how we lead. Sometimes our natural preferences help in a specific area of leadership. Other times those same natural tendencies hinder our leadership effectiveness.
When it comes to Alignment, however, a different set of behavioral best practices is required. Alignment is really about getting both task and emotional buy-in for the vision from team members. It requires ongoing and consistent one-way and two-way communication. In fact, most of the time the failure of a vision has more to do with the lack of alignment than it has to do with the vision itself.
Leaders who are the best at aligning their organizations prioritize Clarity, Dialogue, and Inspiration. They tend to…
- explain rationale versus offer intuition
- utilize structured messaging versus impromptu messaging
- exchange perspectives versus present information
- be expressive and encouraging versus reserved and matter-of-fact
As I mentioned to a group of emerging leaders in a recent leadership development program here in Boulder, Colorado – it’s not that offering intuition, using impromptu messaging, presenting information, and being reserved and matter-of-fact aren’t important to leadership. They are. But not when it comes to Aligning Your Team.
If you’d like a more in-depth analysis of your own behavioral best practices as it relates to Crafting a Vision, Aligning Your Team, and Championing Execution – let us know. We help leaders understand their natural preferences using a tool called Everything DiSC Work of Leaders. And, we’d love to help you elevate your leadership effectiveness too.