Issue 31: Aligning with Your Organization's Priorities

"When you know what's most important to you, making a decision is quite simple."

— Anthony Robbins, author and motivational speaker

Welcome to our 31st issue!! This installment in Skip-Level Strategies focuses on a crucial mistake professionals often make: not aligning with their organization's priorities. Misalignment with the broader goals of your organization can lead to missed opportunities, inefficient work, and diminished influence as a leader.

Here’s What It Looks Like:

• Focusing on Your Own Goals: You might be driven by personal ambitions or departmental objectives, but if these don’t align with your organization's priorities, you risk working in isolation. This can make your contributions seem less valuable and lead to frustration when your efforts go unnoticed.

• Neglecting Cross-Departmental Collaboration: If you're too focused on your own team's work, you might miss out on opportunities to collaborate with other departments that are driving critical initiatives. This can result in your work being out of sync with key company projects.

• Ignoring Shifts in Strategy: You might have established routines and processes, but if you’re not tuned into shifts in your organization’s strategy, you could be continuing work that no longer aligns with what the company needs. This can make you appear disconnected and irrelevant.

What You Should Be Doing Instead:

• First, get well acquainted with your organization’s goals and priorities. You should do this on a quarterly basis to understand the key initiatives and priorities that are capturing the organization’s attention. This will help you distinguish where your team’s work fits into the bigger picture.

• Next, now that you understand the organization’s priorities, make it your job to keep abreast of progress and shifts in the strategic plan. What’s working, what’s not? What’s keeping the other managers, your colleagues, up at night? You have an opportunity here to take an interest in your organization’s set of concerns, not because you’re going to solve them, but because you can now have intelligent, informed conversations with other leaders. You can ask questions that matter to them and have even more perspective on where your department and function fit in the big picture.

When I work with leaders, I take them through my Enterprise Strategy Alignment method, a framework that simplifies the process of aligning your work and your team's work with organizational priorities. This approach removes the confusion and guesswork, so that you're not just meeting expectations but exceeding them by becoming a strategic partner in your organization.

Enterprise Strategy Alignment ensures you’ll be recognized as a key player who understands the bigger picture, making you indispensable when strategic decisions are being made. Your work will consistently support the company’s most critical initiatives, positioning you for higher visibility, more influence, and skip-level leadership opportunities.

If you're ready to make your work count in the eyes of your team and your organization, schedule a consultation. We'll discuss how to strategically position your work so you have the biggest impact in your organization and your career.

Why this matters:

Leaders who don’t align with their organization’s priorities miss out on opportunities to contribute meaningfully and influence key decisions. If you’re focused only on your own goals without understanding the bigger picture, you’re likely to be seen as out of sync with the organization’s direction. This can hinder your advancement and diminish your impact.

If this sounds familiar, don’t worry. Recognizing the issue is the first step to realignment. ;)

I help mid- and senior-level leaders align their work with organizational priorities, ensuring they are recognized as strategic contributors. By working together, you’ll learn how to navigate organizational dynamics, prioritize effectively, and communicate your value in ways that resonate with top decision-makers. Schedule a consultation to discuss how we can align your efforts with your organization’s goals and set you up for success.

Next week's preview

In our next issue, we’ll explore the importance of developing and communicating a vision. Until then, consider how you can ensure your work aligns with the bigger picture.

Go out there and lead,

Asia