When you hear the word alignment you might think about yoga or the human body. Good alignment means that we are connected, healthy and strong. And misalignment often creates pain or instability to the point we can no longer ignore what’s going on.
I often use alignment in the body as a metaphor for business strategy. The same way a chiropractic adjustment can target a specific pain or imbalance along your spine, a strategic adjustment can also bring a lot of relief to a nagging pain in your business.
Alignment issues are a great diagnostic tool because they show us where our energy is stuck. Blocked energy focuses our attention on what isn’t working. And sometimes the slightest adjustment in area can produce a massive shift – because whether we’re talking about business or life – everything is connected.
I’m going to explore 3 common areas of alignment you can focus on to help your business grow. By exploring these areas, perhaps you can identify a pain point in your business that’s calling for your awareness right now.
Soul Alignment
When I refer to soul alignment in business, what I’m talking about is a deep connection to your core essence, or as I like to call it, the soul of your brand. This includes awareness about your purpose, vision, goals, strengths and personality.
When soul alignment is strong you are clear on who you are and that means you are more likely to create a business that aligns with your purpose, vision and values. When soul alignment is off, entrepreneurs tend to feel very stuck and unsure of their direction.
Soul alignment calls us inward, and it requires us to stop and evaluate the very foundation of who we are – as a person, a leader, and a brand. It can happen at any stage of the business journey and for a myriad of reasons such as; a failed venture, a mid-life crisis, a shift in consciousness or just a deep nagging awareness that something greater is calling you forward.
Brand Alignment
Brand alignment is a more common term used in business. It’s about aligning your unique value to your customers needs and learning to translate this awareness into a clear offerings, messaging, and an overall value proposition that accurately represents your business.
When brand alignment is strong, you’re clear about how to communicate who you are, who you serve and what you do. Your positioning feels good and the right people can find you, understand your value and want to connect with you. When brand alignment is off, we tend to feel like something in our communications is not working; like we’re attracting the wrong people, or we can’t get clear on what we want to offer.
Brand alignment requires that you spend some time getting really clear on the connection between who you are, what you do and who you want to work with. This is a foundational aspect of your business strategy and something you should revisit and adjust as you grow because the more you go out and work with the right people, the closer you’ll get to understanding how to best align with them.
Marketing Alignment
Marketing alignment is simply about choosing the right tools, tactics and systems to share your message. It’s about having a strategy and plan that’s clearly defined and uniquely tailored to you and your business goals.
When alignment is strong in this area, your marketing efforts should be bringing you tangible results and the process of creating content should be fairly easy and fun. You know who you’re talking to, how to reach them and what they want. When marketing alignment is off, the whole idea of marketing feels hard. It can be more complex to determine what’s not working since there are many factors that contribute to an effective marketing strategy but the most common thing I see is that the foundation isn’t strong enough yet.
Sometimes marketing alignment issues can be cured with a new tactic or tool, but more often than not, it requires you to go back to your foundation to look for clues. Is it the marketing strategy or your lack of clarity that’s causing the problem? Is it the medium or the message that’s out of alignment? Am I really lost or am I just afraid to be seen?
How Aligned Is Your Business?
Alignment work reminds us that everything isn’t broken – that one small adjustment can produce huge results. When one area is aligned and open, it can support the entire system. And when one area is blocked, it can cause the whole structure to feel unstable.
Developing a clear and aligned strategy for growth requires your intention and attention. You must be willing to go deep, look at where it hurts and develop a plan to reach your goals from a place of alignment, not fear. When we approach business with this level of clarity, magical shifts can occur and the process of building a business or brand becomes way more enjoyable.