The price of neglecting stakeholders

Individuals, teams, and organizations all exist within systems. Most leadership teams are focused on creating greater alignment within themselves – which often feels artificial. There have been countless corporate visioning and values workshops where the participants emerge with glazed eyes, irritation, and emotional exhaustion.

The irony is that finding team alignment can become more straightforward when leadership and the broader organization discover a greater purpose that serves the interests of the different parties in your ecosystem.

Serving only one interested party, like the shareholders, the donors, or even a single manager, will often lead to a crisis in the system. The groups whose interest you harm or neglect will eventually mount an attack if they feel threatened or even ignored. This Harvard Business Review article shines a spotlight on how the cruel reactions to the brutal shooting of Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO, in broad daylight are a warning of the dangers an overly simplistic purpose can generate.

A strategy in VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) requires leadership teams to learn together constantly. If a team can discover a purpose they believe will create a safer and more sustainable future for themselves and all the stakeholders co-existing in their system, the speed at which they achieve alignment can be breathtaking. Clarity around a holistic purpose makes teams more agile in pivoting together when the environment throws a curve ball.

How do you prepare your leadership for more VUCA? Invest in coaching your team to think more systemically and devote the necessary energy to uncovering the purpose that aligns your organization with creating value for all your stakeholders. Dig your well before you are thirsty.

Here is the link to the article: https://hbr.org/2024/12/the-unitedhealthcare-ceo-shooting-should-be-a-turning-point-for-corporate-america