Creating alignment is one of the most powerful moments in any team’s rhythm. It’s the point where clarity meets commitment, where the team understands the few Team Key Results (TKRs) that matter most and rallies around them. Most leaders put real effort into this moment of alignment, and rightly so. However, what often gets overlooked is what happens next.
Alignment isn’t permanent. It drifts. It bends. It weakens under pressure, competing priorities, and the everyday friction of organizational life.
That’s why great leaders don’t just create alignment, they continually monitor and repair it.
Alignment Requires Monitoring
Anyone who has ever relied on a bike for daily transportation knows how easily the wheels slip out of alignment. Riding over uneven surfaces, hitting bumps, or simply logging enough miles can cause the tires to wobble. Suddenly, the ride feels shaky. The gears don’t shift as smoothly. The bike still moves forward, but not efficiently.
Fixing that problem doesn’t happen with one big adjustment. You repair the alignment by tightening the spokes one at a time, checking the wheel after each turn to see if the wobble remains. It’s slow, careful work, subtle adjustments that restore stability.
Teams aren’t all that different.
Every new challenge, competing priority, or shift in workload is another bump in the road. Over time, alignment loosens. The wobble begins. If leaders don’t notice or intervene, performance starts slipping. This is not because people are incapable, but because the alignment simply hasn’t been maintained.
What Alignment Drift Looks Like in Your Team
Misalignment rarely announces itself loudly. More often, it shows up in quiet ways:
- Complaining or subtle negativity
- Blaming others or distancing from ownership
- Visible frustration with goals or priorities
- Decreased engagement or energy
- Confusion about what matters most
- More swirl in meetings or decisions
These aren’t random behaviors. They’re signals that something has shifted. The wheel is wobbling. As soon as you notice it, it’s time to move from monitoring to repair.
Repairing Alignment Happens One Person at a Time
Alignment can’t be restored through a team email, an announcement, or a quick reminder in a meeting. Repairing alignment is not a mass communication exercise; it’s a one-on-one leadership discipline. Just like adjusting one spoke at a time, alignment repair happens through individual connections.
Send a quick message. Stop by someone's desk. Ask simple check-in questions like:
- “How are you feeling about our current priorities?”
- “What’s felt unclear or frustrating lately?”
- “Where do things feel out of sync?”
These are not performance evaluations. They’re opportunities to surface confusion, pressure, or misinterpretation early, before small misalignments become big problems.
With each conversation, you’re tightening a spoke, restoring balance, and strengthening clarity.
Alignment is an Ongoing Practice
Leaders often assume alignment is achieved once and then “set,” but alignment is dynamic. People encounter new obstacles. They interpret priorities differently. They lose clarity or confidence. If leaders aren’t watching closely, the drift compounds.
Your role isn’t to maintain alignment by force, it’s to maintain it through connection:
through listening, through real conversations, through steady, intentional adjustments. When you treat alignment like the wheel of a bike, something that requires regular attention, you build a team that rides smoother, adapts faster, and performs consistently even on rough terrain.
That’s the power of a leader who knows how to monitor and repair alignment, one spoke at a time.