Think of the times when you have interacted with someone where one of you weren’t using their native language. The conversation is choppy, there is a lot of effort invested in simplifying your message to make it easy for the recipient to understand. You have to listen more actively and may repeat what they have said to make sure there aren’t any misunderstandings. In summary, it takes a lot of effort and there is a limited amount of complexity that can be discussed.
Now, think of when you connect with someone and how easy the conversation flows. You are both on ‘the same page’. The things that are important to you, are important to them. Because of this, you don’t spend a lot of time talking about ‘why’ and spend more time talking about ‘what’ or ‘how’. You can have spirited debates because, while you may have different opinions on the small stuff, you are aligned on key priorities, deeply held beliefs and core, fundamental driving forces.
That’s what happens when your core values are aligned.
So, if execution is a challenge. If getting others to be aligned with a strategy is difficult. If it seems like there are too many conversations and too few results, it could be a mis-alignment of core values. If that's the case, the first step is to understand where the gap is. Sometimes it's small enough to overcome and, by understanding this, you can modify your approach to bridge the gap. If the gap is too big, then we all have the same choice - change 'it' or change yourself.