Why Most Leadership Teams Aren’t Aligned—And What to Do About It

By Scott Mandell

In founder-led companies, misalignment isn’t always obvious at first.
Everyone says they’re on the same page. The meetings feel productive. People are working hard.

But behind the scenes? Different priorities. Conflicting interpretations of “the plan.” No real accountability. And results that don’t reflect the effort.

Here’s the truth: alignment isn’t a vibe—it’s a system.

What Misalignment Looks Like:

• The CEO thinks you’re prioritizing growth… but the team is focused on “fixing operations”

• Everyone leaves a meeting with slightly different understandings of the next steps

• Goals are vague or generic (“grow revenue,” “improve marketing,” “get more efficient”)

• Nobody knows what done looks like—or who’s really accountable for it

What Aligned Teams Do Differently:

• They define a clear strategy in writing (yes, on paper—not in a slide deck)

• They focus on a few key priorities each quarter—not 27 initiatives

• They establish a rhythm of accountability: weekly check-ins, visible KPIs, real ownership

• They use a common language and framework (we use Scaling Up for a reason)

Founder to Founder:

You don’t have to overhaul your company overnight. But if your team can’t name the company’s top 3 priorities for this quarter—or who owns each one—that’s your starting point.

Scaling gets a lot easier when everyone’s rowing in the same direction.

Want to talk through how we do this with clients? Let’s connect.