As a leadership and business coach, one of the first things I look for when working with a business owner is alignment in their vision, mindset and strategy. 

But there’s something I’ve noticed… many businesses overlook the importance of alignment. Some tell themselves they don’t have the time to go through the process, some trick themselves into thinking they’re doing the work even though they’re rushing the process, and some simply don’t see the value of alignment in their business.

The truth is, lack of alignment is one of the primary reasons why businesses fail to scale and your business can’t afford to overlook it. Here are some telltale signs that alignment is a blindspot in your business.

 

Your Team Doesn’t Know the Company’s Vision

Alignment starts with vision. One common mistake that business owners make is when they fail to clearly define and communicate the company’s short, medium and long-term vision. 

When this happens, your team will start making assumptions about business goals or begin to create their own priority list which may not relate to your company’s goals. And I’m telling you, this is a big problem. If you and your team are not on the same page, how can you be sure you’re all rowing in the same direction and working together towards a common target? 

 

Your Team is Struggling to Execute

If you notice that some of your team members are struggling to execute it’s a sign of misalignment.

In this case, responsibilities may not be clearly defined or your team doesn’t know what success really looks like in their role. Either way, the lack of clarity will lead to a lack of results.

 

You Don’t Have or Track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Some business owners focus too much on the day-to-day operations and lose sight of what’s important. No matter how hard you work, or how much effort you exert to scale the business, busyness without tracking progress toward your goals will lead to drifting off course.

 

Your Team is Not Motivated

Do you feel like your team doesn’t have the motivation to go to work? Then that’s a clear sign of misalignment. They likely aren’t feeling connected to the greater purpose of why their work matters and seeing that they are making a difference. And this leads to a lack of drive to improve and contribute more. 

 

You Find it Hard to Make Decisions

Entrepreneurs have countless decisions to make every day. If you’re struggling to make decisions, it could be because you’re unclear or lacking confidence about the business’s future. 

 

The Bottom Line? Alignment Is Required to Scale

Misalignment is common in businesses, but many entrepreneurs are barely aware of it. This isn’t something you can set and forget, it’s an ongoing process to realign. Without alignment growth will be limited, but the good news is, as the CEO you can quickly realign yourself, your team and the business with some intentional focus and communication.