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Personal Alignment

At some point, most of us have experienced that vague feeling that something isn't quite right .... even if we cannot quite put our finger on what it is.

Maybe we feel we are running on a fraction of our full potential. Or that we lack the full measure of courage / confidence that we would like to have. Or perhaps we believe we have everything in place, but our intuition does not quite go along with this analysis.

This may be indicative that some "alignment" is missing. Here is a brief overview of some of the key elements of personal alignment, even if the full relationship between them is too complex to represent here.

Lets explore each element one by one, and look at some of the common issues of alignment that show up.

(For useful checklists on any of these subjects, please email john@success121.com. This document is simply an overview.)

Vision

This is the favourite territory of many a coaching session. Whether it's a business leader looking at the future of an organisation, or an individual person looking at his/her own purpose in life, vision is usually represented as an imaginary top-right box in a diagram, with everything leading towards it.

In reality, vision is a more dynamic and fluid. It is often a bit mercurial, hard to grasp, which is probably one of the reasons it gets a lot of attention in development circles.

Here are some key questions worth asking:

Is vision something you want to explore for yourself, or are there others involved?

Which elements of your vision are clear already? Which elements are not clear?

Why are these elements important?

What values are linked with this vision? (see values section)

How would you know your vision was being realised?

What are you prepared to let-go of, if necessary, in order to realise this vision?

A clear and consistent vision is very compelling. It keeps us motivated even on rainy days. It acts as powerful cement to bind a team. It means that a coherent strategy can be built and improved. It's our "compass setting" in all weathers.

Needs

A need is personal to each person; it's a requirement for that person to be at their best. A value is shared with others, a belief in something of ultimate importance. What many people describe as values are really needs, for example, "recognition", "achievement" etc.

You can easily check whether it's a need or a value by asking "Is this for me, or do I want this for everyone?". If it's the former (e.g. security), then it's a need, rather than a value (e.g. some people might thrive on insecurity).

Most needs are in the following areas. It helps to be as specific as possible.

Money (e.g. "six months expenses in reserve")

Physical Environment (e.g. buzz, people around, beauty, variety etc.)

Time ("at least one hour per day for me")

Energy (up early, gym, breaks, well-being, the outdoors etc)

Connection (family, friends, colleagues, co-operation, belonging)

Leisure (fun, humour, hobbies, expressive arts)

Achievement (building, creating, self-actualisation)

Thomas Leonard used to teach the value of setting up "sprinkler systems" so that our needs are permanently met, so that we don't have to spend our lives running around chasing needs. For example, if I have a need for recognition, I might surround myself with appreciative people. This frees me up to look at other aspirations, bigger vision and more compelling strategy - both for work and for life in general.

Values

As described above, what many people describe as values are really needs, for example, "appreciation", "security".

Values are the "things of ultimate importance", and we tend to want them for everyone, not just for ourselves. Examples:

Freedom

Inspiration

Joy

Health (also a need!)

Excellence

Love

Values tend to be shared with others; in fact, we tend to get along really quickly and easily with people who share our values.

On the other hand, our needs don't have to be shared ... indeed the more our needs complement each other the better. For example, it might be counter-productive if a team were full of people who all have a need for detailed planning and procedure. But if there is not a shared value of integrity, that is usually more serious.

"When we live life according to our values, our needs are met, and our wants are few"

- (source forgotten, do you know?)

We sometimes find that our values and our needs are well aligned (value of excellence, need to learn), but sometimes they can be at odds with each other. For example, we may have a value around growth, but a need for stability. At times, this can produce tension.

What are your needs?

Which needs support your values? Where might there be some tension?

How does that tension drive you forward? Where might there be blocks?

How can you get your needs permanently me

Culture

Our discussion of values takes us to shared values, often enshrined in our culture. The culture may be a national culture, or a corporate culture, even an extended-family culture.

In addition to shared values, a culture usually has its "stories" or "discourses". Companies and nations often have legends about their founders, about early challenges overcome, historic milestones or battles with others, and inspiring anecdotes of courage in the face of obstacles. These are our "cultural discourses".

When we change company or country, some of these discourses can be hidden from our view. We don't quite understand why they do things that way. We take certain things for granted: ways of behaving, ways of communicating, shared context. All of a sudden, it's missing and we can find ourselves very isolated.

What are the cultural "stories" that operate around you?

What are your discourses, whether from your national or from your professional origins?

Which values are significant here? How well are these aligned with your personal values?

What do we need to learn?

Increasingly, we live in a multi-cultural world, where the need for cultural sensitivity - coupled with the ability to adapt - are important not just in an international sense, but also in our ability to work with multiple organisational styles and ways of working. To take one example, complex sales bids may require a multi-cultural team working together to achieve a successful outcome.

Talents

Talent is deeper than skill. Indeed it's our talents that help us to quickly master some skills and perhaps to struggle with others.

Here are some of the talent-groups that we explore as part of "The Outstanding Professional":

Intellectual and cognitive

Drive and forcefulness

Empathy with others

Organisation, structure and co-ordination

When our work plays to our talents, we can operate swiftly and adapt easily to new requirements. As long as we don't get bored, we are also likely to enjoy our work more. It's easier to stay motivated, which means that excellence is both more achievable and more sustainable.

In terms of alignment, here are some questions worth posing:

What are your talents? How do they fit with your values?

What other talents may be hidden?

How well do these align with how you spend your time?

What are the opportunities for delegation - to harness the talents of others?

Where might you be struggling to acquire skills that don't play to your talents, rather than developing your areas of strength?

How well does the culture of where you work support your talents? Please give examples.

Resources

Whether we are developing our talents, achieving our goals or simply doing our jobs, it is certain that we need some resources. Where there are performance issues, it is almost certain there are also resource issues. Here are some real-life examples:

A team had wonderful offices, good remuneration, opportunities for development ... but were seriously hampered by unreliable systems.

An experienced sales-professional had everything in place, including great strategy and systems, but his time was consumed by administration.

An independent consultant became de-motivated and isolated by working from home; and ended up moving back into an office environment not because she needed the physical infrastructure, but because she needed the buzz of people around her to work at her best .

While working on the inner-world is an important part of our personal development, it is not the whole story. If we don't have adequate resources (e.g. support, systems, physical infrastructure, materials, website, media), our development will be seriously hampered and the vision cannot be realised.

This is worth emphasising simply because it is often neglected. For decades, the marketplace focused on external systems and quality, ignoring inner life. In some teams, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction: focusing on culture and vision and neglecting (even losing interest in) vital systems and resources.

Experience

"Man, you gotta have your own experience"

(comment overheard in a cafe!)

We can create vision, grow talents, respect values, develop resources ... but we have to live experience. No wonder Henry Ford said that experience was of supreme value in life, and no wonder that it's experience that employers usually seek to hire.

Nevertheless, experience is not just a progression of facts on a CV. Having spent many a coaching hour working with professionals on their "story", there are two observations worth making about "experience":

The "content" of that experience is usually known, the "context" (and hence the value) of that experience is usually less obvious. (For the e-book "Hidden Value", email pam@success121.com)

Perceived failures cast a longer shadow than successes. So if someone built a company to 10m turnover, but the company then collapsed, the failure-element of the story carries more weight in their minds that the years of growth and success.

Experience is therefore embodied in how we tell our stories, and some stories are prisons from which we may be due for parole.

Equally, there may be elements of our experience which are of supreme value to others, and these are often neglected when CV's are written and stories are told.

Goals

So much has been written on goals over the past decade, one wonders what to include in a brief introduction such as this. Most readers will be familiar with SMART goals, for example: Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Time-bound.

We now have goals for everything: work, fitness, weight, appearance, investments etc. Many have goals for their leisure-time and their relationships. And quite a few professionals are getting tired of all this goal-orientation!

As usual, the temptation is throw the baby out with the bathwater. At their best, goals are highly useful for keeping us motivated, allowing us to see progress, and getting everyone moving in the same direction. The top-three caveats are:

Goal-oriented people (for whom goals work well, in most domains) have a habit of assuming that everyone is goal-oriented. This is not the case: many are more motivated by creativity, analysis, story or inspirational connection than they are by goals

Even in the most action-focused environment, there is a value in reflection. The constant call to action ("So what are we going to do about it. then?") can often choke-off some quality thinking. Some of the best conversations don't have action-points.

To achieve sustainable, goals need to be aligned with vision, values and talent. Yes, this is a Rubik's Cube, and sometimes just as tricky to align.

If there is a particular area in which you are not achieving goals - whether it's weight loss or sales targets - then it is possible that the goals are not aligned with your vision, or your values or your talents.

Or could it be that the necessary resources are not in place?

Further information

For useful checklists and exercises on any of the above elements, please email john@success121.com.

For related articles, see www.success121.com. For further discussion, personal coaching, ideas for a conference or team - training session, you are welcome to contact the author by emailing john@success121.com .