Aligned or just agreeable?

A client once told me, “We met, we were all on the same page … until the next day.”

By lunchtime, two execs were quietly walking back the decision. Another was telling their team to “wait and see.”

Turns out, they hadn’t been aligned; they’d just been agreeable.

In leadership teams, there’s a dangerous moment that often goes unnoticed…

Everyone nods, no-one disagrees, the meeting ends on time.

It feels like alignment. But what if it’s just agreement?

This is where distributed consciousness matters.

Real alignment isn’t about thinking the same thing as everyone else - it’s about making space for different thinking to surface, so the group can act wisely and cohesively in service of the same goals.

When leaders only reward harmony, they lose the intelligence in the room. You get polite disengagement, not shared commitment. Lovely! Until it’s not.

So here’s something to consider…

When was the last time someone in your team constructively changed your mind?

If it hasn’t happened in a while - it might be time to check:

Are we aligned? Or just being agreeable?

Until next week, take care of yourself and others

Madeleine

I help accomplished professionals untangle difficult career questions so they can thrive in work and life.

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