As part of my never-ending quest to keep Oldmanitus at bay, I started seeing a Rolfer. If you aren't familiar with Rolfing, it's a type of bodywork focused on alignment and better movement. It's a little like if massage therapy and chiropractic care had a baby.
She watched how I stood and walked, poked and prodded a bit, then let me know that my femurs weren't quite where they should be. This contributed to my hips and back being twisted. Also, my scapula was 'stuck.' She said, "Not trying to scare you, but you are twisted so badly it looks like you have slight scoliosis."
Our body is a system. When we are out of alignment in one area, it can impact another part of our body. I was a mess and had no idea because most of my mess felt normal. Good thing I came in.
I assumed this was all because of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), but she thinks it probably has more to do with how I sit at work. (One more reason to practice BJJ—it's dangerous to sit.)
She said that my body had learned unhelpful patterns of both movement and being at rest. My body had built 'habits,' so to speak. Not all of them were helpful. Some were creating problems.
So she's helping my hips, shoulders, etc., develop new healthy patterns of movement. Who knew?
I've had a handful of sessions. My posture is straighter, and it feels natural to hold good posture. I have also noticed that the persistent tightness in my hips and shoulders has dramatically decreased. It is easier to move. It takes less warming up and mobility work to get to my full range of motion.
Patterns in leadership alignment
Leaders and organizations develop patterns as well—habits in terms of our 'posture' and how we move and get things done. The concept of leadership alignment plays a huge role here. The challenge is that we don't always recognize it. We might have organizational stiffness, aches, and pains—but that's normal, right?
Both leaders and organizations develop patterns that can pull teams out of alignment, restrict their ability to achieve results, or just make things more difficult than necessary. These patterns show up in our personal approach to leadership, relationships, organizational systems, and culture.
Here's the thing: Dysfunction in one area can contribute to dysfunction in others. But improvement in one area can contribute to improvements throughout the system. That's the exciting thing about improving patterns—it often has system-wide impacts.
To make this more tangible, here are examples of what patterns in leadership alignment can look like:
Personal leadership alignment
A CEO who consistently works long hours without rest creates unhealthy patterns that lead to burnout. Better personal habits such as clarifying priorities, protecting boundaries, and planning breaks improve efficiency and efficacy.
Examples of other unhelpful personal patterns:
Procrastination
Not trusting others
Avoidance of difficult conversations
Struggles to delegate
Indecisiveness
Relational leadership alignment
A team leader notices recurring tension and failure to hit goals within their team. They assume it's the normal frustration that comes with management. With help, they realize their communication style is unclear and causes friction. New relational patterns like clearer communication and regular one-on-one check-ins improve team dynamics.
Examples of other unhelpful relational patterns:
Micromanagement
Favoritism
Ineffective conflict resolution
Avoiding feedback
Poor listening skills
Systemic leadership alignment
In a fast-growing company, outdated processes slow decision-making. These inefficiencies create friction across teams. Updated systems, training, and clear processes improve overall decision-making and reduce delays.
Examples of other unhelpful systemic patterns:
Overly complex approval processes
Undefined or inconsistent procedures
Repetitive, unproductive meetings
Inefficient resource allocation
Cultural leadership alignment
A company's culture rewards long hours and constant availability, leading to burnout and high turnover. By shifting focus to value results over "looking busy," overall performance and morale improve.
Examples of unhelpful cultural patterns:
Rewarding only visible work
Resistance to change
Conflict avoidance
Viewing burnout as normal
Where to start: Leadership alignment
Clients often ask me where to start when realigning their leadership. My general advice is to start somewhere. Improvements in leadership alignment at the personal level will impact relationships, which in turn changes the organization's culture and systems.
To achieve dramatic results quickly, follow two key principles:
#1 Start at the topPatterns at the senior leadership level impact the rest of the organization.
#2 Pick one areaDeliberating on the "most important" area often wastes time. Just start somewhere. Improvements in one area open up bandwidth for other areas.
What's one area where you and your team can realign today?
