Aligning Your Team

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One of the most powerful attributes an organization can have is alignment; the ability to have the orchestrated movement of a significant number of people all heading in the same direction. When you have that, great things can be accomplished. Wars are won, diseases are eradicated, and businesses obtain market domination all when there is focused alignment. Organizational alignment is a nice theory, but it is hard to effectively implement. First, there must be a clear version for where the organization is heading. As the book of Proverbs says, “Where there is no vision, people perish.” One of the most important aspects of a leader is to make sure there is a compelling vision in place that is communicated clearly to everyone. Even if you have a vision, everyone needs to know what his or her role in the organization is to achieve it. When you disconnect someone’s work from the end result, it is very hard to have alignment. I have found that in great organizations, everyone knows their role and contribution to accomplishing the overall mission.

Sheldon Laboratory Systems is an example of a Mississippi business success story that has excellent organizational alignment. That alignment did not happen by chance. Eddie Adkins, President of the company and his leadership team have done a great job over the last six years of taking a very good organization and making it great. If you can envision your science lab in high school, then you will understand what Sheldon Labs does. They are a leading manufacturer of science laboratory furnishings, and sell to schools in all fifty states as well as internationally. The company has a rich history dating back to 1898. In 1977, the MISSCO Corporation acquired the company and moved the operation from Michigan to its current home in Crystal Springs. In 2003, Eddie Adkins was hired to be President of the company. Adkins, a graduate of The University of Memphis, came to Sheldon Labs from a twenty-one year background with Dover Corporation.

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DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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