How to Build Executive Alignment Without Turning Into a Hall Monitor
Somewhere around my second year in the C-suite, I caught myself mid-sentence in a leadership team meeting. I was saying something like, “Let’s just make sure we all loop back to ensure everyone’s on the same page about the messaging on this...” and I stopped. Not because the sentence was wrong, but because I heard myself sounding less like a strategy officer and more like the hallway monitor who reminds people to walk, not run.
It was a wake-up call. Because alignment matters. Desperately. But the way we go about fostering it can either build trust and momentum—or suffocate initiative under a blanket of oversight.
Let’s talk about what alignment actually is, what it isn’t, and how to foster it without becoming the culture cop.
Alignment Isn’t Sameness
Here’s a trap I fell into, and I see a lot of leadership teams fall into too: confusing alignment with agreement. They are not the same thing.
Agreement is everyone nodding in a meeting.
Alignment is what happens afterward—when people act in ways that reinforce a shared intention.
You can have alignment even when there’s disagreement. In fact, some of the most aligned teams I’ve seen are ones that had robust debate, clear tension, and still walked out with a commitment to move forward as one.
What Misalignment Looks Like in Real Life
You don’t need to install a tracking system to see misalignment. It looks like:
Redundant efforts that waste time and money
Strategy documents collecting dust
Team members surprised by decisions they weren’t looped in on
Projects getting yanked in different directions depending on who’s leading that day
Sound familiar? That’s not a leadership flaw. That’s a signal. It’s pointing to a breakdown in shared clarity, not shared intent.
How to Build Alignment Without Policing Behavior
You can’t force alignment. But you can foster the conditions where it emerges. Here’s how:
1. Anchor in Shared Purpose
If your exec team hasn’t had a recent, rigorous conversation about what the organization is really trying to accomplish, start there. Not the mission statement—the real purpose driving today’s decisions.
2. Define "Aligned Action"
Don’t just say, "Let’s all stay aligned." Spell out what alignment looks like:
Which decisions are centralized?
Where do leaders have autonomy?
What do you expect people to echo down the chain?
3. Normalize Debate, Then Decide
Create rituals where disagreement is expected, even welcome. But also create clarity about how decisions get made and when debate is closed.
4. Communicate Decisions Clearly—and Often
Don’t assume everyone knows what’s been decided. Publish, repeat, and reinforce key decisions. Make clarity contagious.
5. Coach to the Edges
If someone’s consistently zigging when the team is zagging, coach them early. Not with a slap on the wrist, but with curiosity: “Help me understand what you’re seeing that’s causing you to go this direction.”
The Human Payoff
When alignment is in place:
Leaders act with more confidence, knowing their decisions won’t be undercut.
Teams move faster—less second-guessing, fewer rewrites.
The organization stops having the same three arguments every quarter.
And maybe most importantly: people stop wasting energy managing perception and start investing that energy in results.
Want to Make This Real?
Alignment isn’t a memo. It’s a habit. One that gets built, reinforced, and sometimes rebuilt over time.
If your team is ready to start rowing in the same direction—without stifling the voices that make the team strong—let’s talk.
My Executive Coaching, Board Consulting, and Planning Facilitation services are designed to help executive teams do this kind of work in real time, with real results.
Let’s build alignment that doesn’t just look good on paper. Let’s build alignment that moves your business forward.
