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Aligning Emotionally and Intellectually 237

reserved for full emotional and intellectual commitment. When an indi-
vidual says he or she is aligned at Level 5, it means, “I am committing to
support the decision, both emotionally and intellectually, without any
reservations or conditions. I am not resigned, concerned, complying, or
withholding emotional commitment.” Level 5 is a statement of commit-
ment to set aside one’s personal agenda or preference and support the deci-
sion both publicly and privately as if you authored it yourself.
There are many ways in which you can use the levels of alignment in
a group discussion. You can use them at the beginning of a discussion to
find out where people stand before the alignment dialogue begins, as a
checkpoint during the discussion, or at the end of the discussion to deter-
mine if group alignment has been achieved.

Level 1: Resigned. In a decision-making conversation, Level 1 refers to
being actively disengaged and believing that nothing will change. Carolyn
was resigned during a group discussion on what was needed to create what
the company called a WOW customer experience. Since this was a hot
topic for the CEO, she felt it would be politically incorrect to do anything
but comply and agree. But after participating in a team learning session,
she learned how to communicate about her resignation using the five lev-
els of alignment. When the group asked her where she was with regard to
the levels of alignment she was straightforward and said, “I’m at Level 1—
resigned. We’ve had this discussion many times without any action. I’m
resigned that two months from now we’ll be revisiting this same topic again.”
Carolyn’s comment prompted others to express their concerns and soon
the team was able to identify the bottleneck that kept progress from occur-
ring. Because Carolyn and others now had a way to express their concerns
without being judged, the group was able to have a productive dialogue.
People who are resigned may ultimately go along with a decision, but
their resignation will contaminate support from others and undermine the
decision. It is important to address resignation openly. Only when people
have an opportunity to express their concerns and work through them with
the group can they become fully aligned.
Resignation can manifest in any or all of the following ways:

• Behaviors that reveal a belief that something or someone is
unchangeable