How to Align and Motivate Leaders and Teams to Deliver Strategy
How to create alignment, build trust, and inspire people to move strategy forward
Strategy succeeds not when leaders draft the perfect plan, but when they commit to delivering it together. Alignment turns priorities into progress. It transforms leadership teams from a group of individuals into one voice, one story, and one movement that inspires belief across the whole organisation.
It’s common for teams to leave a strategy session believing they’re on the same page, only for cracks to appear later. Each leader interprets priorities slightly differently, explains them in their own way to their teams, and emphasises what matters to their function. Those differences ripple down, creating confusion, duplication, and frustration.
As a result, people don’t know what to focus on, resources get wasted, and the strategy loses energy before it’s even begun.
True alignment transforms strategy from a document into a movement -something people understand, believe in, and act on every day.
Why alignment matters
When leaders aren’t aligned:
Teams hear mixed messages.
Decisions get slowed down or contradicted.
Trust erodes because people don’t know what to believe.
“Alignment is not about agreement. It’s about commitment.”
When they are aligned:
The organisation moves faster.
Everyone is clearer on priorities.
People feel more motivated because they see consistency and confidence at the top.
As Professor Peter Hawkins reminds us, leadership teams don’t exist for themselves; they exist to create value for stakeholders. Alignment ensures the whole team is pulling in that direction, together.
Step 1: Create clarity at the top
Alignment starts with the leadership team. Before anything is shared more widely, leaders must be confident they all share the same understanding of the strategy and priorities.
Example: In one session I facilitated, we explored a new strategic priority. When I asked each leader to describe it in their own words, one focused on growth, another on efficiency, another on innovation. We paused and unpacked those differences. Through structured discussion, we defined:
What the priority actually meant.
Why it mattered to the business.
The concrete steps required to achieve it.
By the end, the leadership team had one shared definition. More importantly, they had tested and challenged their assumptions, so they were confident they could stand behind it with one voice.
Practical step: Try this in your own leadership team: ask each person to explain a key priority in one sentence. If the answers differ, you’ve found your first alignment challenge.
Step 2: Craft a strategic narrative that inspires people
Strategy is not just a list of bullet points, targets and numbers. For people to believe in it, it needs to become a compelling story that makes clear connections to purpose, why it matters, what difference it will make and has emotional resonance.
This turns strategy into something every leader can deliver consistently, every employee can hear and understand instantly, and every stakeholder can connect with and believe in. A strategic narrative links strategy to purpose and gives people a reason to get out of bed in the morning.
Example: One client originally framed their strategy around “increasing EBITDA by 15%.” Rationally important, but emotionally flat. We worked together to reframe it:
“We exist to help our clients grow sustainably. Our strategy is about becoming the partner of choice: faster, more responsive, more collaborative. When we achieve that, our financial results will follow.”
The numbers stayed in the background. The narrative became about purpose and value. It gave employees something to believe in, not just a target to hit.
Practical step: Ask: If this were someone’s first day here, how would we explain our strategy in a way that connects to why we exist?
Step 3: Cascade to teams consistently
Once leaders have a shared narrative, the next challenge is consistency. If each leader tweaks the story, employees hear different versions or become focused only on the goals which seem most relevant to their function, this creates siloed working. To avoid this:
Keep the narrative simple — no jargon, no long documents.
Agree on the non-negotiables (the core message that never changes).
Repeat it in every forum: town halls, team meetings, one-to-ones, and onboarding.
Adapt the examples for different audiences, but never change the heart of the message.
Example: One leadership team agreed on three strategic pillars. We worked to make the language so simple and clear that anyone in the business could repeat it. Within months, people across teams were using the same phrases — the message had stuck.
Practical step: Test your narrative by asking employees at different levels: Can you name our top three priorities? If the answers vary, you have more alignment work to do.
Step 4: Energise and motivate people
Alignment isn’t just about clarity. It’s about energy. People need to feel inspired and motivated to act. Leaders can create this energy by:
Celebrating wins and milestones (even the small ones) that show the strategy in action.
Recognising behaviours that bring values and priorities to life.
Sharing success stories, e.g. customer feedback
Involving teams in shaping how priorities are delivered, not just telling them what to do.
Example: A senior leadership team introduced quarterly “strategy showcases,” where teams presented examples of how they had delivered on priorities. It created pride, healthy competition, and belief. Strategy felt alive, not abstract.
Practical step: Create moments where teams share their progress. It not only builds momentum but also shows that strategy belongs to everyone, not just the boardroom.
Step 5: Build trust through leadership behaviours
Alignment only holds if people trust their leaders. Employees notice when leaders’ actions don’t match their words. Trust is built when leaders:
Role-model the behaviours they expect from others.
Follow through on commitments.
Communicate openly, even when things are difficult.
Admit when priorities need adjusting.
Practical step: Audit your leadership behaviours. Are you sending signals that strengthen alignment, or undermine it?
Step 6: Keep it alive
Alignment isn’t a one-off task. It needs to be renewed regularly. Strategies evolve, leaders change, and contexts shift. Without attention, drift creeps in. Ways to keep alignment alive:
Quarterly alignment checks: revisit the narrative and test whether leaders are still telling the same story.
Leadership reflections: make alignment a standing agenda item, not just results, but how the story is being lived.
Refresh the narrative: keep examples and stories up to date so the strategy feels relevant.
Practical step: Build alignment reviews into your leadership rhythm. Don’t assume that once aligned, it means always aligned.
Final Thought
When leaders create clarity at the top, craft a narrative linked to purpose, cascade it consistently, energise people through stories and celebrations, and role-model with trust, strategy becomes more than a plan. It becomes energy and momentum.
Alignment is a living discipline. It’s not about everyone agreeing politely — it’s about leaders committing to one voice, one story, and one set of priorities, and inspiring people to move forward together.
✨ If you’d like to explore how I could support your team, get in touch
Do you need help to build alignment and motivation around your strategy?
II work with leadership teams to create alignment around strategy, helping them clarify their story, build trust, and energise their people through facilitation, systemic team coaching, and leadership development.
If you’d like to explore how I could support your team, get in touch
Email: hello@growth-space.co.uk or call 07966 475195.
