What Staff REALLY Think When the Boss Doesn’t Walk The Talk

So raise your hand if this is you: have any of you ever had a job where — when it came to important stuff like goals, strategies, or ethics — it felt like the right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing?

Or, how about this: have you ever had a boss make you follow a particular rule or standard but then didn’t follow that same rule or standard themselves?

(I’d ask another question, but that might require a lot of you to have 3 hands raised. Bummer.)

Alignment: The Chronic Problem No One’s Talking About

The reason for all this hand-raising is something I am calling “Alignment.” Its opposite — MISalignment — is chronic in workplaces across the globe. Sadly for many of these places, misalignment quickly leads to cultures of distrust, defensiveness, and disengagement.

The worst part is that there doesn’t seem to be an adequate way to even TALK about the problem, much less address it. Except of course, as is often the case, pointing the finger at those in charge.

But even though that may feel good at the moment, it may be a big mistake. After examining the issue extensively, I don’t think we can continue to lay all the blame on today’s managers and leaders.

The Real Culprit: Industrial-Age Management Thinking

That’s because issues with alignment — and there are an infinite variety — are a direct byproduct of the same outdated industrial-age thinking continuing to dominate organizations across the globe.

Specifically, because that thinking tends to keep everyone focused on only their own little corner, there is not much encouragement or tolerance for tuning into how everyone’s part “aligns” or fits together to serve the whole.

For some, a more familiar way of saying that is that that there is no “system” or “whole system” perspective.

Either way, in most companies today there is typically little to no awareness of the problems created by lack of alignment.

Envisioning an “Aligned” Path Forward

However you — I mean those of you with one or both hands up (Yikes, sorry! You can put them down now!) — YOU know the problems this creates. That’s because YOU’VE lived them.

But, just maybe, if more and more people watch my fun little videos like the one above (be sure to watch!) and read the stuff I periodically launch out to the masses, just maybe this new “aligned” way of thinking and managing people will catch on.

It could almost be movement. A movement of people like you and me joining together, getting a real handle on this and — Fingers Crossed!! — transforming more organizations into places where people love to work.

♥️ ~d