You and your car have something in common: both need alignment!
When your car is out of alignment, bad things happen
- Parts get worn out.
- It’s hard to stay on course.
- You can’t get up to speed.
Sound familiar?
I don’t mean your car…
…I mean YOU!
Your spine is the same way! When it is out of alignment, you can develop pain in strange places.
You lose your strength.
You get tired and grumpy.
Yep! That’s you, alright!
This is because cars and spines were created to be in alignment. When they are, good things happen. When they are not, things get worn out, it’s hard to stay on course, you can’t get up to speed, you develop pain, you lose your strength, and you get tired and grumpy.
Sometimes it seems like we are dealing with multiple problems when, in fact, we are experiencing a single problem – we’re out of alignment.
Alignment happens in three basic areas – in our PERSON, in our ASSIGNMENT, and in our ORGANIZATION.
We must align our person
To be aligned in our PERSON means we maintain what was described centuries ago in an ancient story of wisdom. In the story, it says about a main character, “He came to himself.”
Notice there are two people described in that phrase – (1) HE and (2) HIMSELF.
There are at least two people inside all of us. There is the inner person of whom we are aware and the person we portray to others, the one we want them to see.
The inner you – the real you – is the HIMSELF. The portrayed you – your image, persona, projected self – is the HE.
“He came to himself” describes a personal alignment where we become genuine, transparent, honest, and real. Who we project to others on the outside aligns completely with the person we are on the inside.
We stop pretending and start living an authentic life.
I think this is why admitting our shortcomings, failures, and humility are so important in a life well lived. It helps us align internally and externally.
- Duplicity starts to disappear.
- We stop pretending as much.
- Hypocrisy has a hard time existing in such an environment.
- We become more at peace with ourselves.
- We worry less about what others think about us.
This is what can happen IF we are truly sincere in our pursuit to be personally aligned
We align our assignment
After personal alignment, we need to be aligned in our assignment. Each person has different roles and responsibilities they are responsible for.
These roles and responsibilities change based on circumstances.
For example, a person has a role in their family while at the same time have a role at their workplace. The responsibilities in these two roles are very different.
In most small businesses there are more needed roles, than there is staff. This is solved by people who are required to wear multiple hats.
In order to stay in alignment the person must understand and operate in accordance to each role that they play. In the military this concept is known as situational awareness.
During a single workday, and often even during the same conversation a single person is operating on multiple assignments.
A person might be involved in making a sale to a prospect while also holding the responsibility of keeping the books straight. Another example is a person could be responsible to develop the roadmap for a software platform, while also working directly with a user whose goal is to get the software to perform in areas of their business outside of the system’s design.
Pressure is the direct result of misalignment. When our life isn’t aligned with each role and the responsibilities associated with the role,negative results will happen.
If something feels off kilter in one of your assignments, consider if you are fulfilling the responsibilities of your role.
To the degree you are able to be honest with yourself about the answers to this question, there will be a direct proportion of joy or sorrow in your outcomes.
We align our organizations
Most people have more than one organization to which they are responsible.
The first and most important organization in life is our home/marriage/family. To maintain a home properly, a person must align their home with its purpose of being a safe place of refuge, peace, and rest.
When married, couples must align themselves as husband and wife to maximize their partnership in achieving the goals of creating a family that expresses what is intended.
But there are also organizational alignments outside the home, such as a business that helps others as they serve their customers and create jobs for their employees.
Perhaps one reason why so many people get worn out and hurt in the workplace is because they are not aligned with the purpose, mission, and vision of their company. Or, perhaps individuals within the business don’t understand, or haven’t been assigned, their roles and responsibilities.
Thousands of years ago, humans were taught, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”
But many of today’s companies have abandoned time-honored ways of doing business and seem to be more aligned with the world’s systems. Personal advancement is more important than personal character, profit is more important than performance, and keeping your word, operating with integrity, and offering a fair exchange have fallen by the wayside.
Today, we have an epidemic of egotism and immorality among leaders that continues to put businesses in a bad light.
This must stop!
We must align with the purpose, mission and vision of our organizations more than the pressures that come from society.
“Strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees,” a wise teacher says, “and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead.”
If you’re feeling worn out, off course, not up to speed, in pain, weak, tired, and grumpy – check your alignment!
Summary:
No two business situations are ever exactly alike, but you can look for continuity in past situations to find something meaningful to apply today. Look for repeated patterns and discern if they are a positive or negative example. Some situations will teach us to “go and do likewise” while others will warn us to “go and do otherwise.”
The basic rule of thumb is that principles remain the same, while practices often and should change with differing situations. Wise leadership understands both orthodoxy (correct principles) and orthopraxy (specific practices). Teams must be trained to analyze situations in context, prioritize resolutions, identify applicable principles, then apply appropriate practices to solve problems and grow the business.
I’d love to talk with you more about the importance of alignment. If you are ready, click here to schedule a call with me