The Alignment Strategy: Do work that matters
Make your efforts worthwhile, both at work and in your life
Hi everyone, Fran here 👋
Thanks for the words of support during my first week of writing! I’m energized by your kindness, I hope you enjoy this week’s post.
Making progress isn’t about putting in hours and waiting.
Most of our contracts say that we work 40 hours. If you are pushing hard at your job you may work 50-60. No matter how many hours you put in, all of us want our work to make us grow, to make progress toward our next promotion, and to be recognized.
Someone with 100 times more impact than you is not working 100 times more hours. Don’t worry, this is not a post about productivity and removing distractions. This is about putting your efforts in the right actions. The most productive hour is the hour you don’t spend on throwaway work.
Both your company and your life are in movement. Align your actions with them.
Takeaways from this article
How to identify meaningful work.
How to make the most impact from any of your work.
Align with your company’s direction
You can’t swim against the tide. No matter how many hours you put in as an individual contributor or as a team, you can’t fight the momentum of the entire company moving in a direction for years
Find initiatives that align with the company’s direction. You don’t have to throw all your initiatives away. Instead, make them align with the direction. When socializing your initiatives, speak your audience’s language. Manage up your leaders to get their buy-in on the idea and their support.
Your organization’s direction will change constantly. Align regularly. Understand both short-term direction and long-term vision.