Check Your Alignment
by Mark McClanahan
Have you ever driven your car and noticed something is not right with how it handles? Maybe the car drifts to one side or your steering wheel vibrates.
These are telltale signs of wheels being out of alignment. The same principle applies to managing a business. Sometimes, however, the indicators are not so obvious. Keen awareness of the more subtle signs can take a good company or team and make it great.
As a leader, your obligation is to look through different lenses, ones that look deep and wide into what’s around. For instance, circuitous or even quiet voices during a meeting can point to alignment issues.
At Mosby, there was a time when a few members of the management team consistently held back their participation in meetings and were overshadowed by more dominant personalities. This was a red flag to me. I decided it was time to take the team through a trust-building exercise. We participated in a deep dive into why it was important to be open and honest, supported by maintaining a high level of integrity and discretion within the team.
Ever since that exercise, all members of the team feel comfortable voicing their opinions even if they are in opposition. We all agreed it was OK to disagree as long as we all became aligned on the final decision of the group. It takes only one person who has not bought into the direction of the team to cause friction within the organization. A leader needs to coax those voices into alignment. So, regularly spend the time to check your alignment by looking deep and wide. Once uncovered, get your team aligned!
Mark McClanahan (mmcclanahan@callmosby.com or 314.909.1800) is the chief operating officer at Mosby Building Arts.