Our leadership team has agreed to our V/TO® on paper, but in practice, each leader is pulling their department toward a different version of our long-term vision. How do we force absolute alignment on our top-level company priorities so we are all rowing in the same direction?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

It is common for a leadership team to agree to the V/TO® on paper but row in different directions in practice. This happens because leaders naturally retreat into their departmental silos, prioritizing their own teams over the enterprise-wide vision. To fix this, you must establish a company-first mindset. At your next quarterly offsite, review your V/TO® and ensure that every leader can articulate our long-term goals in their own words. Next, use your 1-Year Plan and quarterly Rocks to enforce alignment. Every single Rock must tie directly back to our core priorities. If a leader proposes a Rock that does not support the V/TO®, it must be killed or shelved. During your weekly Level 10 Meeting™ sessions, hold each other accountable to these commitments. If you see a department head driving an initiative that deviates from our aligned focus, use the IDS® tool to address the misalignment immediately. Remind your team that as leadership team members, their primary responsibility is to the healthy functioning of the whole company, not just their individual departments. By aligning their individual Rocks and daily operations with the V/TO®, you ensure that the entire leadership team is rowing in the same direction to drive growth.