Align The Enterprise & Make Beautiful Music Together

Q: Why is a great business like a great marching band?

A: The players in both organizations are in alignment.

Alignment? Yes, Alignment.

When a marching band passes by in a parade, the columns and rows are in straight alignment, the band members are all in-step, they play in-tune, and they are all playing the same music. Alignment separates the great from the good from the mediocre from the awful. It's the same in business.

A great business is also in alignment; all the players are aligned on their core foundational elements - mission, vision, and values. Great businesses know where they want to go and have strategies in place to get there. They inspire their people to greatness and unanimity of purpose. They get where they are going with enthusiasm, vitality, and determination. If your business is in alignment ? congratulations! If your business is not in alignment then today is the day to get started.

First look at your core foundational elements. Are your mission (the reason the business exists), vision (what you want it to become), and values (the service level and ethical manner in which you treat staff, vendors, and customers) relevant, clear, communicated often, and consistent? If these elements do not exist or have not been utilized since the original business plan was written it is like a marching band with the trumpets playing "Stars and Stripes Forever" and the clarinets playing Beethoven's 7th. Symphony ? in other words cacophony and chaos ? you're out of alignment.

Once everyone is playing the same music (mission, vision, values), it's time to tune the instruments (align strategies and tactics), rehearse the music (align staff training, accountabilities), practice the marching steps (align policies), keeping the whole enterprise marching to the beat of the same drummer. Soon you will be making beautiful music together. Those watching you march past will applaud with joy at your alignment, spirit, purpose, and joy in accomplishment.

Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, "Front Lines with Larry Galler" Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.larrygaller.com

---

A Rare Leadership Skill: Dealing With People Who Want Out By Offering Crowns For Convoy

As a leader, you'll inevitably be faced with people wanting... Read More

Weaknesses of Wishing

When you're starting a business, you might wish for a... Read More

Birds of a Feather May Be Turkeys

Birds of a Feather May Be TurkeysBy Gene Griessman, PhD... Read More

The 3rd Plan Missing from your Business

If you're like most people, you probably started with wonderful... Read More

Five Essential Hiring Practices

Recruiting and hiring are often done in haste, leaving the... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Employee Ideas Achieve Work Life Balance

This article relates to the Work/Life Balance competency, which investigates... Read More

Group Meeting Disrupters

MEETING DISRUPTERS: If two participants are carrying on a personal... Read More

Use QA As Your First Step To Outsourcing

Quality Assurance, or QA, is often given short shrift in... Read More

Quick Tips On Bringing Out The Best In People

Want to bring out the best in people?Edward W. Smith,... Read More

Managing Performance: Don?t Let Slackers Bring Down Your ?A? Players

As a manager, it is your job to ensure that... Read More

Why All Managers Are Alike

Because, like you I suspect, they have key target audiences... Read More

How to Get the Best from Outsourcing

There's a great little article ('Business Lifeforms') on... Read More

Before You Head Off, Make Sure You Know Where You Are Going - The Importance of Clear Objectives.

The title of this article sounds like simple advice, but... Read More

Turnover is Not a Problem

"Ha!" you say. "For someone to make a statement like... Read More

7 Strategies for Sustained Innovation

The need for constant reinvention is a given in today's... Read More

1000 Managers Turned Their Plans Into Energy!

I bet you can't tell me how leadership training and... Read More

How to Make a Difference Every Day

Every day, everyone can make the world a better place.... Read More

Gossip And Rumors And Hearsay, Oh Why?

In the Wizard of Oz, it was "Lions and tigers... Read More

Introducing the 15 Frameworks of Successful Self-Employed Professionals

A framework is a way of thinking, a point-of-view, a... Read More

Outsourcing Problem Analysis

As an HR professional, you have responsibilities in several broad... Read More

Executive Humor at Meetings

I don't encourage managers to wear funny hats, appear in... Read More

Innovation Management ? Emotion, Habit, and Culture can be Hard to Change!

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Conflict at 36,000 ft

This was supposed to be one of those sleepy flights... Read More

Innovation Management ? how will we make the go or kill decisions?

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Business Innovation ? the Value of Work Processes

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Managing Yo-Yo Style

Does being managed by others smack more of "Survivor" than... Read More

Let the Professionals Help You Out - Outsource

As your website grows in terms of attracting more footfalls,... Read More

What Makes a Good Appraisal Interview?

WHAT MAKES A GOOD APPRAISAL INTERVIEW?Here is a tip for... Read More

10 Steps Towards A Stress-Free Introduction Into Management

Becoming a manager for the first time can be an... Read More

Taking Care of Middle Manager Bounce Off

How many times have the management consultants been 'in' and... Read More

The 10 Realities of Change

I've seen several articles that begin with lines like "the... Read More

Why Management Kills Creativity

Ten or so years ago, an international consultant, specializing in... Read More

Encouraging Behavior That Gets Results

You're the boss, and you have every reason to feel... Read More