QUESTIONS FOUNDERS ASK
How do I get my leadership team aligned?
By Ivanka Menken, Strategic Mentor·Updated
In Ivanka Menken's experience, a leadership team that is out of line is usually a clarity problem, not a people problem. The founder needs to answer three questions simply and consistently: where are we going, what matters most right now, and what are we not doing. Then each decision that follows needs one named owner.
Why do good leaders pull in different directions?
Because each of them is working from a slightly different story about where the business is going. In her book The Clarity Shift, Ivanka calls this Alignment Risk: good people, wrong direction. Each story is plausible, none is exactly wrong, and they are not the same story.
What are the three clarity questions?
- Where are we going? A plain answer about what the business looks like in three years.
- What matters most right now? The one or two things that would move it most in the next 90 days.
- What are we not doing? The markets, products, clients and ideas you have said no to.
Why is the third question the hardest?
Because saying no closes doors, and founders are reluctant to close doors. A direction that includes everything cannot guide a daily decision, so the team ends up aligned on paper and pulling apart in practice.
Is it the team, or is it the founder?
Often it is the founder. Priorities that changed without anyone saying so, overlapping mandates, or a new initiative added without stopping an old one will look like a people problem. Clarifying those first usually changes more than replacing a leader would.
How do you keep a team aligned after the meeting?
Write the decisions down, give each one a single owner, and agree what the founder will no longer override. Alignment that lives only in the founder's head drifts within weeks.
How does Ivanka work on this?
Ivanka runs this as a one-day workshop with the founder and up to four leaders, and inside her mentoring for founders still doing it all.
What else do founders ask about this?
What is Alignment Risk?
Alignment Risk is Ivanka Menken's name, in her book The Clarity Shift, for capable leaders working hard in slightly different directions because the founder has not made the direction clear enough to guide daily decisions. It looks like a people problem and is usually a clarity problem. The three clarity questions are where she starts.
How long does it take to align a leadership team?
The first version can be done in a day. Ivanka Menken's Executive Alignment Workshop brings the founder and up to four leaders together for one day and ends with three decisions, each with one owner, written and signed. Keeping alignment takes ongoing discipline from the founder, which is where her mentoring comes in.
What does the Executive Alignment Workshop cost?
Ivanka Menken's Executive Alignment Workshop is AUD $8,000 ex GST for the founder and up to four leaders, one day, in person in Brisbane or on Zoom. It is a flat fee for the team, not per person. You can enquire by email or book a 20-minute conversation first.
What if one leader still will not get in line?
Ivanka Menken would first check whether that leader has a clear mandate and whether the founder has kept to the agreed priorities. If both are clear and the gap remains, it becomes a different decision about that person, and one worth settling properly rather than leaving to drift.