Alignment Strong: A Strategic and Human-Centric Handbook for Competitive Leadership

by John Quinlan

Overview

In our modern unforgiving and complex global market environment, this groundbreaking organizational change framework will allow you and your company to sustainably compete and thrive  

In this inspirational guide, ex-CEO and road-tested executive leadership coach John E. Quinlan takes you as a leader on a journey of self-discovery. 

     Years ago, deep in the Utah desert near the end of a long motorcycle trek, Quinlan had a vision of perfect organizational alignment—with da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man at the core. This concept became Alignment Strong.

     Concise yet impassioned, this essential handbook clarifies the ten components of Quinlan’s proven competitive leadership model by overlaying them on a depiction of da Vinci’s ideal human form. As a result, the perfect organizational alignment converges with the ultimate individual alignment. 

     By following the Alignment Strong framework, you will learn the importance of

• articulating your own change philosophy and applying a shared formula with deftness;

• finding vulnerability and courage by understanding your own personal power, blind spots (CEO disease), career derailers, and resistance to change; 

• integrating strategic and human-centric systems within your enterprise to increase organizational health, financial results, and competitive posture; 

• aligning espoused core values with strategic vision, mission, leadership/team, strategy, goals, and a performance management system, while culturally imbedding an appetite for change.

     Utilizing research and advice from top business and thought leaders, as well as self, organizational, and team assessments, Quinlan enables you to transform not only yourself, but your company. 

     Quinlan is recognized as an entrepreneurial polymath by Inc. magazine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781733478175
Publisher:	An Inc. Original
Publication date:	10/13/2020
Pages:	242
Sales rank:	781,041
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

John E. Quinlan has been up, down, and all around. He co-founded and ran a publicly traded financial services holding company, building it to 330 employees in 14 states and $430 million in assets. Quinlan ended up losing it all. His failure became his competitive advantage and ultimately the genesis for this book. After co-establishing a consulting and investment banking firm in Detroit, he left America for the other side of the world, where he and his wife founded, in remote Papua New Guinea, a certified-organic and Rain Forest Alliance coffee growing, collection, and exporting business. It grew and prospered until local greed and vengeance, culminating in an assassination attempt, forced the Quinlans to abandon their company. (At least he still had his motorcycle stored back in Michigan.) Quinlan is now an author, speaker, organization development specialist, and executive leadership coach. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Albion College in Michigan, and a Master of Science in Organizational Development (MSOD) from the American University, Washington, D.C.

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Preface xv

Introduction 1

1 Becoming Alignment Strong 7

2 Embracing Change 15

3 The Ten Components of the Da Vinci Organizational Code 33

Core Values 34

Strategic Vision 41

Mission/Competitive Advantage 45

Leadership/Team 49

Strategy 61

Goals/Objectives 64

Organization Structure 68

Departmental Mission Statements/Value Chain 72

Individual Objectives/Management Performance System 76

Integrated Culture 80

4 A Case Study-Without and With Alignment Strong 85

5 Building Effective Relationships 93

6 Symphony of the Synthesist 107

7 The Internal Change Agent/The Aspiring Leader 125

Final Thoughts 133

Wisdom's Invitation 135

Acknowledgments 143

Appendix 145

Alignment Strong Assessment 147

Mission Statement Development Procedure and Evaluation 157

Leadership Development Questionnaire 163

Essential Team Factors and Team Assessment 173

Role Definition Development 184

Team Development Exercise Module 197

Strategic Issue Definition, Goal Statement, and Objectives/Action Steps 201

Goal/Action Plan Team Ratification Session 203

Notes 205

Index 211

About the Author 218