The Power of Alignment
The Power of Alignment
What a rowing crew and a set of tires reveal about keeping a leadership team on track
You’ve likely seen a rowing crew at some point; eight athletes in a slender boat, moving in perfect coordination, each oar entering and leaving the water in the same instant. It’s a display of precision engineered for speed, every stroke calibrated to add power rather than drag. If just one rower is a fraction off tempo, the whole boat loses momentum. Alignment isn’t a nice-to-have for that crew. It’s the entire strategy.
Similarly, the same principle governs something far more mundane: the tires on your car. Alignment sets the angle of each wheel, so it points flat and true down the road. Balancing distributes weight evenly across the wheel assembly. Skip either one, and the ride roughens, tires wear unevenly, and the strain spreads to other parts of the vehicle long before anyone notices the original cause. (more…)
Many years ago, when I was newly appointed as the leader of a large team, I met with them to introduce myself and to learn more about them. And I shared an analogy that continues to ring true in my mind today; that we’re an orchestra and I was their conductor.
This ancient quote, attributed to Aristotle, speaks to the importance of synergy between components of a system. As important as the heart, liver, kidneys, and other physical organs are, they only come to life when they’re properly connected in the context of a living human body. And a weak or failing organ similarly has a negative impact on the entire system. Each organ or element must function at a certain level to maximize a person’s health.
Communication is simultaneously one of the most simple and complex activities we engage in as humans. Two or more people can talk about a topic and completely understand each other in one moment, and in the next moment recognize a disconnect has occurred. Colleagues who have trusting relationships will typically recognize this more quickly and get back on track. But often in organizations, leaders with contrasting priorities will continue to move forward without recognizing the growing divide between their work and that of their associates. They focus more on talking than listening. And failure to listen to colleagues ultimately impacts organizational productivity and profitability. 
Several weeks ago, I completed my first half marathon. Making the decision to do it, disciplining myself to train for it, standing in the middle of the street in downtown Detroit at 6:30 a.m. on a chilly morning with anxious excitement waiting for the starting signal, and later working through the physical aches were all new experiences. But my biggest learning wasn’t physical, it was mental.
This is not about team members complaining.
I recently returned from a seven-day vacation cruising the Caribbean with 2200 of my closest friends (well four really). The entire ship was filled with opportunities to listen to smooth jazz music all day long and into the wee hours of the morning. There were multiple performers and musicians, many of whom were regulars on this annual (except for a 3-year COVID break) cruise. And while some guests like me were first timers, many had “frequent flyer” status with 10 to 20 jazz themed cruises under their belts. They knew what to expect and savored every moment of it. 
The Wall Street Journal recently published an article about a young man named Liam McCoy.1 Liam was born with albinism, a diagnosis characterized by lack of the pigment melanin in his hair, eyes, and skin. His eyes were overly sensitive to bright light, they moved involuntarily to the point that he was unable to make them look at any specific object, and he was extremely nearsighted. He could only see something in a field three inches from his nose and had a visual acuity of 20/2000. Though he had sight, his visual perception was extremely poor, and he learned to experience and understand his environment using cues that were different from those born with normal vision. 
Leaders spend a great deal of time focusing on building strong teams, selecting the right people with critical skill sets, managing diversity of thought and matching complementary strengths. They structure their organizations based on the capabilities needed to accomplish organizational objectives and optimize opportunities to control as many variables as possible to ensure a cohesive team.
How well can you accomplish your goals by working alone?