May 17th, 2022
Organizational Alignment – The heartbeat of belief, performance and sustainable success in the competitive world of sports!
For those of us who love sport, ’tis the season to watch great performances on the court and ice. With the NHL and NBA playoffs in full swing, pundits can pass judgement on every win, loss and coaching decision over the course of the next few weeks. The Boston Celtics and the Tampa Bay Lightning, among others, won game 7’s recently, in dramatic fashion. Other teams left something on the table..
From a distance, it appeared that both Ime Udoka and Jon Cooper, the head coaches of the Celtics and Lightning, respectively, were leading in similar ways. Stay the course. Keep the messaging consistent. Believe in the process. Their players appeared committed to the task and willing to share in the dirty work and the glory. In many ways, it was nice to see this leadership behaviour rewarded. Their teams seemed aligned.
I have been incredibly fortunate to have worked with dozens of sport organizations over the course of my career, many with the pressure of a nation, city or passionate community, placed squarely on their shoulders. Given this, I declare the following: without strong alignment – staff, athletes, coaches and management – sustainable success is not possible. You may experience a blip of success without being aligned, but it won’t last long. It may sound like I am “stating the obvious”, but establishing alignment that fuels world class performances, is no easy task. If it was, coaching and leading would be much easier.
Recently, I worked with a group that was as aligned as any I have come across. A clear mission. Easy to understand principles and standards. And, most impressively, leadership behaviour (not “leaders” behaving, because that is different and less impactful) across the organization that both promoted these core concepts and held people accountable. It was inspirational. Everyone was invested in the mission and the way in which they would achieve their goals. It is no surprise that they have consistently won when it has mattered most. So, what does alignment look like in sport and how do we better understand if our teams and organizations have it (or not)?
What is it? I believe alignment exists and contributes to performance due to these four factors:
- Investment (the human kind)
- Clarity
- Consistency
- Accountability
Aligned organizations engage their people (Investment), ensure everyone is clear on the vision, values and critical language (Clarity), they do “it” ALWAYS (Consistency) and endeavor to figure out what is working, what isn’t and how people are performing (Accountability).
Beyond making things better, all of this has a profound impact on belief. Under pressure, in “Game Seven” moments, belief in systems, principles and people is an impossible to measure factor that lifts good teams to greatness and craters non-aligned, dysfunctional groups. And how do we, as coaches and leaders, better understand where we stand with our organizational alignment?
The same way we do anything that is important – we plan. Be clear on what it will take to be the best and assess how your team measures up to this – objectively. Most importantly, dig into the BIG questions:
- Investment – Do we involve our people in the process of building a plan to win and measuring how we are doing?
- Clarity – Do we make all the essential elements of the competitive sporting journey as clear as they need to be?
- Consistency – Are we consistent – and how do we know?
- Accountability – Do we assess performance, give high-fives and provide clear direction for under-performers?
RW Sport has the expertise to help you take the next step towards a more aligned, successful team. Make a commitment to be your very best.
ron@rwconsulting.org
813-573-8149
