Where does transformational change really begin? Most leaders would answer. “Strategy.”
After spending more than three decades working alongside CEOs leading major transformations, I’ve come to a different conclusion. Strategy matters, but transformation begins where the leader creates the environment that an entire organization needs to move together. So, I would answer, “Alignment.”
When strategy crosses business units, incentives, cultures, and organizational boundaries, execution becomes a systems problem. Every respective leader may be performing well individually while the organization as a whole fails. The CEO’s unique responsibility is to create the conditions where the entire system moves together.
This requires four things:
- A shared understanding of what success looks like.
- Shared ownership where each leader sees the entire enterprise’s success as their responsibility.
- Aligned incentives and decisions so people prioritize enterprise-level results
- Relentless reinforcement because alignment must be maintained.
I’ve seen this pattern repeatedly, whether helping launch Knowledge Management at the World Bank, Healthy Nurse/Healthy Nation, Stop Stigma Together, or advising leaders In other systems-level transformations. Contrary to those who want to know the how before the what, the technical challenge is never the limiting factor. The limiting factor is always alignment.
The next time a major initiative begins to stall, ask, “Where has alignment broken down?” The answer to that question determines where to focus your attention so you can keep your transformation on the winning trail.
