Orange '13: "Casting the Vision Daily to Keep Everyone Aligned" Notes

Alignment isn’t Automatic

1. In a perfect world, alignment is automatic
2. A leader never has to work at getting a team unaligned.  It naturally happens
3. Organizations naturally go towards complexity, inner competition and confusion
4. Over time, minor misalignments become major gaps and, as a result, the common mission is lost

Just because you start together doesn’t mean you end up together   How does Misalignment happen? 1. Misalignment rarely happens in a church on a mission or vision level 2. Misalignment almost always happens on a strategy level 3. In particular, strategically unaligned programs become divisive because what you’re involved in becomes the mission.

• what helps is that we are only going to do the things that support the mission.

4. Leaders forget to talk about why we do what we do.

• Why unites
• What and how divides

Your best friend as a leader is the “why”   5 Ways to build and keep alignment 1. Take personal ownership of the Strategy as a leader by:

• Gain clarity around that strategy
• eliminating all competing programming (do less for more)
• create a common language

2. Empower people who are already on board

• we all have an existing church and a future church.  Some are already on your team and some are not.  Look for like minded who leads with a proven track record (what they have done in the past, they will likely do in the future)
• focus on strategic alignment, not just mission alignment
• use financial records if necessary
• prioritized the “who” of team reduces friction and speeds alignment as you discuss the “what” of ministry

3. Build Trust

• trust is easiest relationally when people are aligned missionally
• there is a direct relationship between speed and trust

4. Eliminate Alignment Killers

• unclear wins.  It turns you into people pleasers
• ministry clutter
• infrequent communications (never assume they know)
• infrequent relational deposits.  Hare to stay aligned when you don’t talk
• infrequent follow through

5. Stick to your strategy long enough to see it work

• people who change the world don’t change ministries every 5 years
• people aren’t used to alignment
• people aren’t used to clarity
• people are used to getting their own way

  Ultimately people gravitate to a clear and compelling mission, vision and strategy                ]]>