Brandon Laws interviews Patty Beach about the topics discussed in her new book, The Art of Alignment: A Practical Guide to Inclusive Leadership. It’s all about getting your team aligned behind a good idea and leading them effectively toward a vision or goal. The two discuss leadership best practices for setting direction, creating “clockwork,” and empowering employees. Patty teaches that if employees have a voice, leaders can use the “wisdom of the group” to correct misalignments and move forward as a united front.
GUEST AT A GLANCE
Patty Beach is a leadership development consultant and author of the book, The Art of Alignment: A Practical Guide to Inclusive Leadership. With over thirty years of experience coaching and training leaders, Patty’s expertise is helping emerging leaders align their teams toward a common goal.
A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST
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🎙️ Host: Brandon Laws
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A PICTURE OF ALIGNMENT
When we think of alignment, we think of a straight line. Instead, Patty explained, we should think of alignment as “operating like machines with interlocking gears.” A self-aligning organization brings forward the competencies of each team member. It recognizes an area of misalignment and determines what “proposals or requests would help [the team] to resolve them.”
According to Patty, a self-aligning organization “feels free” to identify misalignment and deals with it proactively and creatively as opposed to the traditional top-down view of alignment. It’s about letting go of the “pyramid” structure that we’re accustomed to and embracing a different approach — an approach that looks more like “that of a clock’s gears working together.”
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Creating the environment
“[Top-down leadership] implies that one person has the answer and everybody else is just there to follow that person’s lead when, in reality, a lot of the things that we’re trying to solve are very complicated and we need everybody’s thinking behind it. And if we can create an environment where every voice matters, then we can solve those problems together.”
The wisdom of the crowd
“Because what can happen in groups is what’s called groupthink, and that means you’ve got a senior person, they have an opinion, and everybody wants to pander to that opinion, but that doesn’t really tap into the wisdom of the crowd. What we see with effective leaders is that they allow for all voices to be heard. […] As a leader, I can allow everyone to have a voice, and then I can hear all the areas of misalignment. And then maybe I, as a leader, may reserve the vote for me because that’s my area of accountability and I may have information they don’t have, but at least I’m not running blind.”
Giving people a voice
“In my book, I outline a lot of techniques that help leaders think through how to get all those voices — all the shy people, the introverts, the people who were maybe marginalized or don’t feel safe to share their opinion — so that we can really identify those areas and tap into that wisdom versus everybody nodding their heads.”
Setting direction
“In setting direction, let’s all be clear. What are the goals we’re shooting for? And this could be things like mission, vision, values, five-year, three-year, one-year plans, or they could even be values that you’re shooting for. Ideally, we have those conversations regularly so that people know what it is we’re trying to do.”
Creating clockwork
“So as we’re trying to shoot for that goal, how are we going to come together and have meetings or put information in databases? Or where are those systems or processes that are going to support us in reaching those goals? We can come to agreement and alignment around that. Then we’ve got what we’re going for, how we’re going to go for it.”
The versatility principle
“A lot of businesses are male-dominated. It comes from these patriarchal principles, and there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s quite efficient. It works really well. And if you need to get things done in a very limited amount of time with a limited amount of money, which is mainly the proposition of most businesses, it’s a fine principle. But meanwhile, there’s the feminine principle, which is more about having feelings and nurturing and caring for one another and realizing that we’re human. What we’re finding in businesses is that when you have a balance of that masculine principle and the feminine principle, you’re stronger as a leader.”
Meeting logistics
“If you’re meeting in the same room, I am absolutely not a fan of the big conference table arrangement, because I feel like it’s set up to where the King sits in the head position, and everybody else can’t see each other, has to look sideways or look at other people’s heads. I’m also not a fan of classroom configuration with the teacher at the front. It’s better when you have a conference room where you have people sitting in a circle. I also think that this virtual environment is actually quite conducive to more equality and more voices being heard.”
Building on an idea
“I prefer building on an idea versus debating an idea. So I’d rather have you come up with your idea and help you build on it versus our ideas having to compete with one another until one of them wins out.”
LEARN MORE
If you want to find out more, grab a copy of Patty’s book, The Art of Alignment: A Practical Guide to Inclusive Leadership. Or, if you want to connect with Patty, head over to https://www.leadershipsmarts.com/ where you can sign up for a get-acquainted call or download some of the alignment tools.