A free tool from The Alinement Brief
The Alignment Snapshot
Twenty minutes, three questions, one page. See what your leadership team actually agrees on — before it costs you a quarter.
Before your next leadership meeting
Ask each leader three questions.
Independently, in writing, the same day — no talking first.
- What are our top three priorities this quarter — in order?
- What is the single biggest thing standing in the way?
- What does a successful quarter look like for your area — in one sentence?
Two rules make it work. Independent, or you measure politeness instead of alignment. In writing, because talking blurs differences and writing exposes them.
How to read it
Lay the answers side by side.
Don't read for who's right — read for the pattern, and let each gap tell you what to fix.
Priorities. Do the top-three lists overlap, or scatter across eight or ten items?
Obstacles. Does everyone name the same blocker, or a different one each?
Definition of winning. Does "a successful quarter" mean the same thing across the table? Sales pictures revenue, operations pictures capacity, finance pictures cash — all reasonable, all different.
Turn it into a decision
Twenty minutes, one meeting.
Put the answers up with names removed. Let the team see the spread. Then converge on three things:
- The top three priorities, in order.
- The one obstacle you'll clear this quarter.
- One shared sentence for what winning looks like.
This is the first in an ongoing series of tools built to turn the operating rhythm into things you can use with your team. Read the full story behind this one in Issue 8.
Alinement Group LLC provides software and education. It is not a CPA firm and provides no tax, accounting, audit, attest, or legal services. It is a separate company from Terry W Smith CPA LLC. Nothing on this site is professional advice — for decisions about your own situation, talk with your adviser.