Align The Enterprise & Make Beautiful Music Together
Q: Why is a great business like a great marching band?
A: The players in both organizations are in alignment.
Alignment? Yes, Alignment.
When a marching band passes by in a parade, the columns and rows are in straight alignment, the band members are all in-step, they play in-tune, and they are all playing the same music. Alignment separates the great from the good from the mediocre from the awful. It's the same in business.
A great business is also in alignment; all the players are aligned on their core foundational elements - mission, vision, and values. Great businesses know where they want to go and have strategies in place to get there. They inspire their people to greatness and unanimity of purpose. They get where they are going with enthusiasm, vitality, and determination. If your business is in alignment – congratulations! If your business is not in alignment then today is the day to get started.
First look at your core foundational elements. Are your mission (the reason the business exists), vision (what you want it to become), and values (the service level and ethical manner in which you treat staff, vendors, and customers) relevant, clear, communicated often, and consistent? If these elements do not exist or have not been utilized since the original business plan was written it is like a marching band with the trumpets playing "Stars and Stripes Forever" and the clarinets playing Beethoven's 7th. Symphony – in other words cacophony and chaos – you're out of alignment.
Once everyone is playing the same music (mission, vision, values), it's time to tune the instruments (align strategies and tactics), rehearse the music (align staff training, accountabilities), practice the marching steps (align policies), keeping the whole enterprise marching to the beat of the same drummer. Soon you will be making beautiful music together. Those watching you march past will applaud with joy at your alignment, spirit, purpose, and joy in accomplishment.
Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, "Front Lines with Larry Galler" Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.larrygaller.com
Related Articles:
6-Time Emmy Award Winner Phil Roman to Judge 'Antics Animated Music Video Contest' on AboveTheLine.TV
Contest Gives Directors Access to Industry Leaders and Ground-breaking Tools to Create Music Videos.
'Bodog Music Battle of the Bands' Premieres on fuse July 11 at 10pm Et
Description: Bodog Music $1 Million Battle of the Bands premieres on fuse music television network. Judges for the show include Johnny Rotten, Billy Duffy and Bif Naked.
Music, the Spiritual Connection
All through the age's music and spirituality as served hand in hand. As for instruments, the earliest is presumed to be, percussions from noisemakers to drums.
Playing The Piano Using Chord Symbols Instead of Being Tied To The Written Sheet Music
Piano improvising and arranging is an art but definitely not a science. It is all based on chords and chord progressions.
Rock Star Gallery Features Book Signing for Beatles Insider and Music industry Executive Ken Mansfield to sign The White Book The Beatles, the Bands,
Ken Mansfield to sign The White Book
The Beatles, the Bands, the Biz: An Insiders Look at an Era
Ken Mansfield has worked with some of the biggest giants in the rock 'n roll and the country music genres and is coming to ROCK STAR gallery in Scottsdale Az. for an exclusive book signing on Saturday, April 26.
Mark King Signs Production Contract With BHTC Music
DJ Mark King signed an agreement with BHTC Music for the production of House Music. Known for his high energy music sets, Mark King brings a hard, eclectic style to BHTC Music.
Christmas Royalty Free Music Library Expanded at Premiumbeat.com
Premiumbeat.com, an international provider of high quality Royalty Free Music, today announced the expansion of its large selection of musical tracks for Christmas and the Holiday Season.
Joyce Cooling This Girls Got To Play Smooth Jazz Music CD Review
This Girls Got To Play is the latest release from Smooth Jazz Superstar Joyce Cooling, and is another great one by this talented musician.
Greasy Trucker's Party - The Great White Whale For Music Collectors For 35 Years
The Greasy Truckers Party, as a double-LP set, was the item that every serious music collector in the 70's and 80's just had to have Just to have seen a copy was something to tell fellow enthusiasts at the next fair
Musicvistas.com Announces Music Site Built with the New Youtube Chromeless Player
Website showcases the new Youtube chromeless player and lets users access Youtube's vast music video library. Users can build and store multiple playlists and share selections with friends.
iPod Music Downloads ? Free or Cheap Download Is Better?
iPod music downloads are available to music lovers either for free or at a cost. It can be perplexing to users as to why some sites could offer music downloads for free while some charges a fee. Let?s dwell a little deeper into the world of online iPod music and find out whether it is better to download free music or pay for your iPod music downloads.
How to Play Music by Ear
Are you impressed with people who are able to play the piano, guitar or any musical instruments by ear Do you think that these people are born with the talent to play music by ear
Review of the Boney James Smooth Jazz Music CD - Body Language
One word describes the CD Body Language from Boney James... AWESOME!
5 Ways to Enjoy Your Music Files
OK, say you've got one thousand of your favorite MP3 songs sitting in your hard disk. What's the best way to enjoy those files? Most of us probably will use the Windows Media Player to listen to those files.
Arvel Bird Takes Indian Summer Music Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental -- Second Award in Four Months
Arvel Bird has just been awarded the Best Contemporary Instrumental by the Indian Summer Music Awards, held at Indian Summer Festival in Milwaukee, WI. This marks Bird's second award in four months for two different recordings.