Direction, Alignment & Commitment

Do you “know” leadership when you see it? Can you tell it’s happening in a team, in a workgroup, on a task force or across the organization? If you are not looking for three important outcomes – direction, alignment and commitment – then you’re missing something big.

These three outcomes (DAC for short) make it possible for individuals to work together willingly and effectively to realize collective achievements. In fact, at CCL, we think the only way to know if leadership has happened is to look for the presence of these three outcomes.

Direction is agreement on what the group is trying to achieve togetherWhat does DAC look like? Evidence of direction includes:
• There is a vision, a desired future, or a set of goals that everyone buys into.
• Members of the collective easily articulate how what they are trying to achieve together is worthwhile.
• People agree on what collective success looks like.

Alignment is effective coordination and integration of the different aspects of the work so that it fits together in service of the shared direction. Alignment is happening when:
• Everyone is clear about each other’s roles and responsibilities.
• The work of each individual/group fits well with the work of other individuals/groups.
• There’s a sense of organization, coordination, and synchronization.

Commitment is when people are making the success of the collective (not just their individual success) a personal priority.Signs of commitment include:
• People give the extra effort needed for the group to succeed.
• There’s a sense of trust and mutual responsibility for the work.
• People express considerable passion and motivation for the work.

Conversely, you can look for evidence that DAC is lacking. You can tell that DAC is not happening in your group, team or organization when:
• There is lack of agreement on priorities.
• People feel as if they are being pulled in different directions.
• There’s inertia; people may be busy, but they aren’t making progress.
• Things are in disarray: deadlines are missed, rework is required, there’s duplication of effort.
• People feel isolated from one another.
• Groups compete with one another.
• Only the easy things get done.
• Everyone is just asking “what’s in it for me?”
• People are not “walking the talk.”

As you look for evidence of DAC, you’ll notice that there isn’t “a” leader making leadership happen (or not happen). The actions, interactions, reactions and exchanges of multiple people are producing the DAC.

Sometimes a single individual plays a major role. Sometimes it simply emerges in the conversations and interactions among people working together. Different people can also play different roles to create DAC. Both formal and informal processes can make it happen. What brings it about in one situation may not bring it about in another situation.

There are no easy formulas. By looking at leadership from a whole-system, DAC perspective, you not only better see the multiple people involved, you also start to see how some actions that haven’t typically been part of the concept of “leading” are indeed contributing to the production of leadership. As a result, you have many more options when it comes to improving leadership.