Page 232 - Fearless Leadership

Chapter

9

Aligning Emotionally and

Intellectually

When we are no longer able to change a situation—
we are challenged to change ourselves.
—VIKTOR FRANKL (1905–1997)

here is a lot of talk today about the need for alignment. It is, in fact, one
Tof the few areas leaders universally agree is essential for effective execu-
tion. But what is commonly called alignment is nothing more than com-
pliance. The element that is overlooked and misunderstood is the profound
level of emotional and intellectual commitment required to achieve
authentic alignment. For full alignment to be realized, committed partners
must suspend their personal agenda and adopt an enterprise perspective.
Authentic leadership alignment is a learned behavior that most com-
panies rarely experience. They may taste the exhilaration of alignment
when faced with a significant threat, but when the crisis has passed, the
laws of physics take over and entropy returns. Where there is maximum
entropy—heat in a system—there is a minimum amount of energy avail-
able for doing work. Fleeting synergy and cohesiveness collapse, and the
enterprise perspective that was momentarily attained is lost. Teams and
individuals revert once again to automatic behaviors such as victim men-
tality and conspiring against others. All of this serves to confirm the need
for fearless leaders who demonstrate courage, stand firm, and accept noth-
ing less than emotional and intellectual alignment.

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