Tag Archive for: alignment

How to recognize when your team is out of sync – and how to get back on track.

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Addressing the issue promptly is a crucial leadership skill.

Key indicators that your team may be out of sync:

  1. Disengagement: People coming late to meetings, reduced accountability, uneven distribution of work.
  2. Lack of Trust: People not opening up, shutting down, unacknowledged tension.
  3. Ineffective Leadership: Poor delegation, unclear direction, purpose, and expectations, decreased standards, a lack of accountability.

Strategies To Get Back On Track:

  1. Meet with each team member to identify root causes. Be open about your concerns. Find out why people are disengaged or lack trust, and get feedback on your leadership. Create a safe space for team members to share concerns and feedback.
  2. Assess whether the root causes stem from team dynamics, unresolved conflict, poor leadership, or individual hornets killing the bees.
  3. Address concerns directly. Acknowledge publicly that the team is out of sync and you are committed to solve the problem. Be open with your team about your intentions, your agreements, and your support requirements.

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Attracting and Retaining The Right People

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Attracting and Retaining The Right People

I had an amazing experience during the first of a four-part webinar series on Authentic Leadership with Trucking HR Canada.

The trucking and logistics industry is complex, sophisticated, and built on grass-roots values. Like many industries, leaders are dealing with rising input costs, tight margins, increased pressure on time, and a continual shortage of team members. In the midst of these pressures, one thing leaders have control over is the culture they create.

If you want to attract others, you must be attractive:

1. Commit to leadership. There’s a difference between a boss and a leader. Bosses might get the job done, but leaders create a culture that inspires the right people to sign up and stay.

2. Ensure a healthy Senior Leadership Team. There is a direct relationship between the health of the leadership team and a culture that keeps people.

3. Hire for attitude. You can’t train someone to be nice. Hire good people and train them to execute good processes. In the words of the management guru Peter Drucker, “Hire s-l-o-w-l-y. Fire quickly.”

4. Foster alignment. We have to align people to the organizational values, and even more importantly we need to align the organization to the values of the people who make that organization what it is. Creating a place for people to live their values at work in a way that supports the values of the culture is what builds loyalty, ensures the long-term success of your organization, and creates a place worth working in.