The Power Of Alignment

Misaligned companies, like cars out of alignment, can develop serious problems if not corrected quickly. They are hard to steer and don't respond well to changes in direction. This groundbreaking book shows you how to get -and keep -all the vital elements of your organization aligned and headed in the same direction at the same time. Managers must now keep their people centered in the midst of change, deemphasize hierarchy, and distribute leadership by distributing authority, information, knowledge, and customer data throughout their organization. Alignment is a response to the new business reality where customer requirements are in flux, where competitive forces are turbulent, and where the bond of loyalty between an organization and its people has been weakened. The old linear approach to management has given way to one of simultaneity -to alignment. As pioneers of the alignment concept, the authors have developed this unique approach based on their work with leading companies throughout the world. The Power of Alignment is packed with war stories and the firsthand perspectives of industry leaders. You'll learn how world-class organizations, including Federal Express, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Columbia/HCA Healthcare, Citizens Utilities, AirTouch, and UNUM achieved extraordinary business results. Now, through the authors' expertise, you'll see how alignment can work for your organization. In essence, alignment links the five key elements of an organization -people, process, customers, business strategies, and, of course, leadership -to obtain breakthrough results, chief among them, sustained growth and profit, loyal customers, and a high-performing work force. The Power of Alignment: * Offers a clear framework for aligning and linking the crucial elements that build and sustain a company's success * Provides self-assessment tools as well as benchmarking measures for evaluating an organization's critical competencies * Enables managers to create a work force where each employee can relate his or her activities to the goals and strategic objectives of the company * Helps a company determine when and where it is out of alignment, and gives descriptions of such common company pathologies as "The Phantom Limb Syndrome," "Strategy Interruptus," and "Dead Man Walking" * Prescribes specific steps for getting an organization back on track toward a single, shared vision of its goals Essential reading for all managers and executives, The Power of Alignment offers a new way to reestablish focus and sustained energy, and is a dynamic approach for staying balanced and achieving extraordinary levels of performance. "This book is savvy, detailed, timely, and clearly written. I highly recommend it for any leader facing the challenges posed by global business today." - Dana Mead Chairman and CEO, Tenneco Former Chairman National Association of Manufacturers "It's not only the stars that have to be in alignment to reach your destination, it's all the internal processes, rewards, and drivers. Read The Power of Alignment, and while you may not unlock the secrets of the universe, you will overcome the barriers to corporate success." - William L. Boyan President and COO John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company. "This important book goes beyond TQM and reengineering by creating a new approach called Alignment. The authors show that great companies manage to link strategy and people and integrate customer needs with continuous improvement processes." - Peter Augustsson President and Group Chief Executive AB SKF. "The Power of Alignment gets to the heart of a critical element of organizational leadership, namely focus. Every leader who reads it will undoubtedly do some serious soul-searching about the consistency of corporate vision, goals, management systems, and incentive mechanisms." - Louis E. Lataif Dean Boston University School of Management.

The importance of creating a favourable impression is hard to overstate in all walks of life - in business it's vital to achieve strategic goals. Customers, journalists, bloggers, investors, governments and other groups are all important stakeholders in an organizations performance and in persuasively communicating a company's ethical and socially responsible behaviour, these groups can be kept onside. Supported throughout by lively examples, this book contains guidance for implementing strategies that engage stakeholders - highlighting those organizations which employ communication professionals as key performers. Van Riel reveals how a dominant logic develops among executives, which influences styles and techniques of trust-building communication. The practical insights demonstrated via cases including Google, Unilever and Barclays make this book useful reading for MBA and other graduate classes across areas such as public relations and reputation management as well as thinking managers across the globe.

You don't have to betray yourself or your values to close stellar sales. This book introduces a simple formula for a personalized approach to building connections through alignment and problem-solving. So many salespeople believe that they have to push themselves out of their comfort zones and compromise their values to sell products. But, as Stacey Hall shows, the comfort zone can actually be a power zone that leads to sales, satisfaction, and success. Selling from Your Comfort Zone shifts away from pushy and spammy sales tactics and instead shows how you can bring meaning to your role as a salesperson. Hall teaches how to remain in alignment with your calling, with yourself, with what you are selling, with your prospects, and with what you are saying to your prospects. By being aligned with your core values and personality traits, you will have more confidence, energy, and courage to achieve your goals, which greatly increases the chances of success. Studies reveal that while men generally rely on improving and driving outcomes to close sales, women tend to emphasize building connections, shaping solutions, and collaborating. Hall's Alignment Marketing formula combines both skillsets in an easy-to-follow process for gently expanding your comfort zone to the edge of its safe boundaries. By adopting this approach, you can stay flexible and resilient in the face of problems and objections that all salespeople encounter along the way.

"Dennis has written a practical approach to an issue that plagues so many organizations. The Power of Strategic Alignment is important for any corporation but it is an absolute imperative for a non-profit organization. There is such a temptation to "follow the money." Additionally, there are so many needs in the world that can easily distract good-hearted people and cause organizations to splinter in various directions." David Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer Make-A-Wish(r) America "Any organization's impact depends on strong leaders and not just the CEO. The Power of Strategic Alignment helps senior leaders harness the power of your non-profits' strategy to achieve even more for those you serve." Carolyn S. Miles, President & Chief Executive Save the Children "This is a must-read book for nonprofit CEOs and board members that highlight the importance of communication and developing an organization's leaders, strategies and goals to be successful. The book really illustrates the key elements to make things happen and getting positive results." Jonathan R. Pearson, Executive Director, Corporate Philanthropy and Community Affairs Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey "Drawing on his rich experience as the CEO and now as a highly regarded nonprofit strategic advisor, Dennis Miller provides the reader with a succinct yet comprehensive formula for nonprofit organization leaders and boards to maximize their effectiveness and success. He stresses how an organization, in order to have a successful strategic plan, must have a clear and compelling vision; have completed a comprehensive assessment of key strengths and critical weaknesses; possess a comprehensive funding plan; and complete a detailed plan for implementation and execution. I urge senior executives and board leaders of nonprofit organizations to read this book." Charles M. Dombeck, Chairman National Institute for People with Disabilities in New Jers

It’s happened to you. You received a phone call out of the blue; or you bumped into someone who led you to a new job, a new relationship, or opportunity that totally changed your life. You probably even said, “Wow, what a coincidence I met so and so.” But did you ever stop to ask what caused that person to be right there, at that exact moment, in your path? It was Divine Alignment: the arrangement of coincidences into a pattern of alignment so astonishing they could have come only from a higher source. In this inspiring new work, SQuire Rushnell shows readers how they can navigate life’s thorniest hurdles, rediscover the deep meaning and impact of personal prayer, and develop the individual conviction and wherewithal it takes to reach their full potential and fulfill their most ambitious dreams by honoring the book’s seven easy-to-follow steps. In his charmingly avuncular and wonderfully optimistic voice, SQuire shares moving stories from his own and others’ lives to show the awesome strength inherent in what he calls God’s Positioning System, or GPS. All of us, he assures readers, can use our own personal GPS to grow more closely aligned with God to become vastly more effective, successful, and fulfilled in our relationships, careers, and everything we do. *** DIVINE ALIGNMENT offers a comprehensive approach for living our lives in harmony with God—every minute of every day—offering a whole new paradigm for understanding the mysterious connections between people and events, challenges and solutions. GPS STEP 1: Speak with the Navigator GPS STEP 2: Listen to Your Own Inner Compass GPS STEP 3: Mapping Your Destination GPS STEP 4: Unshackle Your Baggage GPS STEP 5: Step Out in Faith and Believe You’ll Arrive GPS STEP 6: Read the Signs, Recalculate, and Accelerate GPS STEP 7: Gratefully Arrive with a Full Well Within

A jaw-dropping exploration of everything that goes wrong when we build AI systems and the movement to fix them. Today’s “machine-learning” systems, trained by data, are so effective that we’ve invited them to see and hear for us—and to make decisions on our behalf. But alarm bells are ringing. Recent years have seen an eruption of concern as the field of machine learning advances. When the systems we attempt to teach will not, in the end, do what we want or what we expect, ethical and potentially existential risks emerge. Researchers call this the alignment problem. Systems cull résumés until, years later, we discover that they have inherent gender biases. Algorithms decide bail and parole—and appear to assess Black and White defendants differently. We can no longer assume that our mortgage application, or even our medical tests, will be seen by human eyes. And as autonomous vehicles share our streets, we are increasingly putting our lives in their hands. The mathematical and computational models driving these changes range in complexity from something that can fit on a spreadsheet to a complex system that might credibly be called “artificial intelligence.” They are steadily replacing both human judgment and explicitly programmed software. In best-selling author Brian Christian’s riveting account, we meet the alignment problem’s “first-responders,” and learn their ambitious plan to solve it before our hands are completely off the wheel. In a masterful blend of history and on-the ground reporting, Christian traces the explosive growth in the field of machine learning and surveys its current, sprawling frontier. Readers encounter a discipline finding its legs amid exhilarating and sometimes terrifying progress. Whether they—and we—succeed or fail in solving the alignment problem will be a defining human story. The Alignment Problem offers an unflinching reckoning with humanity’s biases and blind spots, our own unstated assumptions and often contradictory goals. A dazzlingly interdisciplinary work, it takes a hard look not only at our technology but at our culture—and finds a story by turns harrowing and hopeful.

In a master work inspired by seven of Christ's priorities found in Matthew's gospel, Frank Damazio challenges readers who would aspire to be like Jesus and not deviate from His purpose for their lives. Discover what Jesus said we must do if we want to align our experiences with His priorities.

Business results, major change, project initiatives can be achieved more easily than imagined. Strategic Organizational Alignment shows you how and points out the reasons why most excuses businesses make for inadequate implementations are wrong. Through stories, illustrations, and step-by-step guides, Crosby shows you a simple, profound, and repeatable way to ensure your business aligns its employees and has a clear path to success. This book will help you to learn how to focus your workplace on the dynamics critical to achieving greater productivity.