Three Keys to Achieving a Result: Part 3 - Alignment
You’ve probably heard the phrase “What you focus on expands.” Popular among manifesting enthusiasts, it’s more than just a catchy mantra—it’s a truth many of us have experienced firsthand. Even if you’re not deep into the law of attraction, there’s something intuitive about how our attention shapes our reality.
Personal Focus
After my husband and I had been married for about a year, we decided to start a family. Suddenly, I saw pregnant people everywhere. Every TV show featured a pregnancy storyline. Advertisements and commercials pushed baby products constantly. It was like the world had turned into one giant nursery aisle. Fast forward a few years, and now I can’t remember the last time I noticed a pregnant person or baby ad. That focus had shifted—replaced, fittingly, by content on perimenopause.
Once you have a clear vision and alignment with what you truly want, your brain starts doing the heavy lifting. With an overwhelming flood of input vying for your attention every day, your brain’s filtering mechanism kicks in—prioritizing the things that matter most to you. It’s a lot like your TikTok “For You” page: what you engage with, you get more of. My hyper-awareness of pregnancy content wasn’t a coincidence; it was my brain reinforcing my focus and goal.
When you’re fully aligned with your desires, focus becomes easier. But it’s not automatic. You have to check in often and ensure that your attention is still locked onto what matters.
Organizational Focus
Maintaining focus within an organization is a tougher beast. You’re navigating multiple priorities, people, and constant curveballs—urgent executive requests, crises, mandatory trainings, staffing changes. It’s easy to veer off course which leads to slower or disappointing results.
But if you’ve already laid the groundwork through a strong vision and alignment, staying on track becomes more manageable. Tools like a thoughtful communication plan and robust stakeholder engagement strategy give you touchpoints to assess focus. Basic project management reports and activities like steering committee meetings will reveal whether teams are meeting deadlines and keeping their commitments.
Some of the strongest examples I’ve seen of organizational focus have come during major corporate divestitures. These moments bring a level of clarity and urgency that eclipses all else. Even departments not directly affected—Finance, HR, IT—end up aligning their efforts with the primary goal. Non-impacted business units find themselves equally invested in the success of the divestiture just to regain the bandwidth to pursue their own goals.
If you’re not achieving the result you desire, it’s because one of the three keys—Vision, Alignment, or Focus—is missing or weak. And sometimes, it’s all three.