Maintaining Alignment and Trust in Fast-Paced Events

I led a $350M org through a strategic planning session - after just 2 hrs the CEO called it a "walk-off home run". Here's my exact framework for creating rapid alignment and vision: 1. The Trust Foundation (20 mins) First, let the room breathe. Watch. Listen. Then, ask each leader to share one childhood challenge they overcame. Why? Because vulnerability creates humanity, and humanity creates trust. When someone shares about their parents' divorce or getting cut from a team, defenses drop naturally. 2. The Vision Journey (30 mins) Create space for deep thinking: - Dim the lights - Play soft instrumental music (I use Dwell on Spotify) - Guide them through a day-in-the-life meditation set 5 years in the future Pro tip: Most leadership teams spend 95% of their time in the daily battle. Few step back to truly envision the future. At $350M scale, this vision gap costs millions. 3. Personal Expression (60 mins) Transform thoughts into tangible vision: - Silent journaling period - Create visual representations on flip charts - Share personal stories of their envisioned future 4. Collective Alignment (10 mins) Bring it home: - Synthesize individual visions - Craft collective bullet points - Write a unified vision paragraph - - - By the end, the team didn’t just have a vision. They had their vision, one that was personal, connected, and inspiring. For the first time, the company’s future wasn’t just a business strategy. It was a shared journey everyone felt deeply invested in. 🔑 The Magic Ingredient: It's not just about the business vision. By connecting personal futures with company direction, you create authentic alignment that drives real change. 💡 Key Learning: Most strategic planning fails because it jumps straight to strategy. But vision without trust is just words on a page. Trust without vision is just a nice conversation. Magic happens when you build both!

One of my client companies recently made a bold shift: They replaced their Engagement KPI with a Trust KPI. And it’s one of the smartest moves I’ve seen. Why? Because trust is not a byproduct of engagement - it’s the precondition. 📚 Research backs this up: A meta-analysis by De Jong et al. (2016) found that team trust is a strong predictor of performance, especially in high-interdependence teams. Yet we treat trust like something we either have or don’t. 👉But trust isn’t a mood but rather a design decision. To start with, we need to understand 3 types of trust: 1. Cognitive 2. Affective 3. Swift Most leaders focus on cognitive or affective trust - built over time. But there’s a third type they don’t know about: Swift Trust. 📍Swift Trust forms quickly in temporary, remote, or fast-moving teams. It doesn’t require deep familiarity, it requires structure. And here’s how leaders can engineer it: ✔️ Start with clearly defined roles and expectations ✔️ Align fast around shared goals and purpose ✔️ Create quick wins that build early credibility ✔️ Model openness and ask for input from day one ✔️ Name the importance of trust explicitly In other words, trust isn’t “earned slowly” in every context. It can be catalyzed intentionally if you know how. That’s what I’m helping this client do: not just educate about trust but build it inside the team with psychological safety and my method, one behavior and ritual at a time. Because when trust becomes a designed feature, not an accidental outcome - performance, inclusion, and engagement follow. P.S.: Which type of trust is most alive in your team right now?

You can push your team hard AND care deeply. Most leaders fail at both. Too many leadership styles default to extremes... 🚫 If you're too "soft", performance dips 🚫 If you're too "intense", people shut down I've made that mistake scaling fast-paced teams. Set the bar high... but forgot to show people how to reach it without burning out. So I started building little systems. Things that encouraged safety and high standards, without making people guess. Over time, it turned into a framework. I call it the Green Light Framework - simple cues that drive clarity and confidence. Here's what it looks like: 🟢 Say "I Don't Know" First ↳ When you lead with vulnerability, others follow. ↳ Truth shows up quicker when no one's faking it. 🟢 Feedback Goes Up, Not Just Down ↳ If your team doesn't know how to give you feedback, they won't. ↳ Build the loop into your 1:1s. 🟢 Clarity = Safety ↳ Ambiguity kills performance. ↳ The clearer the role, the faster the decision. 🟢 Normalize Recovery ↳ Rest is a requirement, not a reward. ↳ Model it or your team will burn out to "deserve" it. 🟢 Urgency ≠ Panic ↳ Speed matters, but only when it's clean. ↳ Teach your team to move fast without spiraling. 🟢 Reward Disagreement, Not Just Delivery ↳ Tension now beats regret later. ↳ Make challenge safe. Make alignment sharp. 🟢 Model Accountability  ↳ You own the bar you set. ↳ If you don't live the standard, don't expect it from others. You don't need to choose between performance or care. You build both by making the environment loud and clear. Expectations shouldn't be a guessing game. And the best teams don't walk on eggshells. They move with speed, safety, and clear intent. Got a 'green light' you use on your team? Drop it below 👇 ♻️ Repost to help others build stronger and safer teams. 🔔 Follow Alvin Huang for more on culture.

In 2018, I almost derailed my career. Messed up pretty bad. And it had nothing to do with code. Back in my Lyft days, I was leading our first-gen self-driving vehicle initiative - my first time managing something of this scale. A complex, multi-team build involving autonomy stacks, hardware integration, cross-functional dependencies… the works. And... Lyft was in IPO mode. Pressure everywhere. Visibility at the highest levels. Here’s what I got wrong: I focused on execution. On making sure the tech worked. On ensuring the vehicle would hit its demo deadline. But I missed something critical: comms and alignment. → I didn’t update downstream teams fast enough. → I assumed shared understanding without confirming it. → I postponed raising risks because “we’ll fix it by next sprint.” → I under-communicated across functions, thinking speed = silence. The result? Delays. Misaligned expectations. A not-so-great review from a stakeholder who mattered. And a very uncomfortable meeting I won’t forget. But here’s what I learned - and what helped me course-correct: - Overcommunicate by default. Through ALL channels. - Transparency buys you trust, especially when stakes are high. - Alignment isn’t a one-time thing - it’s a constant recalibration. - If you think you're over-sharing, you're probably just scratching the surface. I also learned that in environments like an IPO-stage company, clarity is currency. Everyone’s running fast... but if you're not aligned, you’re just sprinting in different directions. We shipped. We learned. We iterated on the process, not just the product. And it made me a better builder - and a better communicator. And that helped me become a better entrepreneur - impacting thousands of lives now through Smart Green Card. If you’re leading a cross-functional project right now and feel that little knot in your stomach… It’s probably your gut telling you: “Talk to someone before it gets worse.” What's your eye-opening career experience? Share it in the comments! #Leadership #Communication #SelfDriving #Lyft #IPO #TechLessons #ProjectManagement #Transparency

Field marketing events aren’t just about great venues, strong attendance, or creative activations. The real impact happens when sales is fully aligned and ready to maximize the event. And yet, I see this all the time: - Marketing plans a killer event - Sales barely knows it’s happening - The event ends, leads are scattered, and there’s no real follow-up plan Here’s how to avoid that mess: - Build an event brief that actually gets read. Give sales a concise, one-pager or deck with everything they need to know: event goals, target accounts attending, key messaging, and follow-up steps. Keep it simple, but strategic. - Put calendar holds in place early. Sales teams are busy, and if you don’t block their calendar for pre-event training and post-event follow-up, it won’t happen. Lock it in early. - Host a short (but mandatory) sales enablement session. Walk them through talking points, event flow, and expectations. The goal? Make sure every sales rep is ready to have meaningful, high-value conversations. - Give them a reason to care. Tie event participation to their pipeline goals. Show them how engaging at the event will help them book meetings, close deals, or move accounts forward. If they see the value, they’ll show up ready. If marketing and sales aren’t aligned, field events become expensive brand awareness plays. When they are aligned? They’re pipeline machines.

We've spent years pushing for the concept of "better together", advocating for the importance of alignment across sales, product, and success. However, it's time to stop talking about "better together"; we all understand and get it. Let's do, "Together. Better." Especially today, when speed is essential and demanded in everything we do. Speed is seductive. It feels like progress. It looks like momentum. But without alignment, speed just creates motion sickness (OK, so maybe I'm still recovering from thinking about altitude sickness after a week in Peru). You get busy teams chasing goals that are aligned at the 30,000-foot level, but aren't aligned in where the work actually happens. There are unspoken and competing agendas. And fleeting and shallow wins that celebrate individual victories but not company wins. In the end, we're all left with mounting frustration that no one can quite name, but everyone feels. This is one of the hardest balancing acts in leadership: How do we move fast without breaking trust, clarity, or direction? How do we actually do "together, better?" The answer is not to slow down. It is to align more intentionally. More often. And more visibly. Alignment is not a kickoff slide or a mission statement. It is a discipline. A muscle. A shared drumbeat that keeps people running together, not just running. Because without alignment, speed scales confusion. With alignment, speed scales outcomes. My thoughts on three ways to lead with both speed and alignment: 🔹 Communicate decisions out loud. Assume nothing. Clarity compounds when leaders speak directly and often about what is changing and why. I've lost track of the number of times I thought something was communicated clearly, but realized I had been working on a concept for months and had only communicated it to the team for a few days. 🔹 Cascade purpose, not just tasks. When people understand the “why,” they can act faster and smarter without waiting for permission. Prioritize perspective over permission, which means sharing openly, broadly, and consistently enough context to create the perspective that lets people closest to the work make confident, bold, and faster decisions. 🔹 Check for drift. Build in rhythm to realign. Fast-moving teams need regular calibration. Without it, small gaps become big ones. At DISQO, our cross-departmental, recurring meetings are focused on ensuring continued alignment and providing colleagues with the opportunity to understand changes and collaborate on solving gaps together. Are you ready for "Together. Better?" #CreateTheFuture #LeadershipInAction #StrategicAlignment #HighVelocityTeams #LeadWithClarity #ExecutionExcellence #FutureOfLeadership #TeamPerformance #GTMLeadership #CultureOfExecution #ScaleWithPurpose #CustomerSuccessLeadership

If you've ever managed a large-scale project, you know that delays don’t always happen because of poor planning. Often, they happen because people stop trusting each other. When projects get delayed, the first things we tend to blame are labour shortages, vendor issues, or compliance bottlenecks. Those do cause disruptions, but if you’ve been in EPC long enough, you start to notice the issues in reports and reviews. It’s the slow erosion of trust between stakeholders. Like, the contractor doesn’t trust the client or the vendor is holding back because of payment delays or the client doubts whether the budget will hold. While the team on the ground is stuck waiting for clarity that no one is offering. When every party is focused only on protecting itself, collaboration suffers. This lack of alignment ends up costing time, money and sometimes even relationships. This is why we’ve made it a point to invest in documentation, clearer communication and upfront expectation-setting. Not just because it looks good on paper, but because it helps build the trust to keep the project moving. See, things will go wrong, the scope will change and delays will happen. But when trust exists, these issues are resolved quickly and constructively. In an industry where everyone talks about faster delivery and leaner processes, I believe the real differentiator will be how well we build alignment before, during and after execution. And that’s something no tool or tech can replace. #teambuilding #EPC #trust #entrepreneurship

𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬. A bold move hits the headlines. Twelve months later, the quiet reversal follows. Like the one I shared earlier this week. Not because the idea was bad. But because the decision-making wasn’t built to scale. No clarity. No alignment. No staying power. If you're a founder, CXO, or team leader evolving how CX is delivered, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲. Because the cost of misalignment isn’t just operational. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥, 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. To solve for this, I created 𝐀𝐈𝐌, a decision tool I use with leadership teams when the pressure is high, the stakes are real, and clarity needs to move as fast as execution. It helps teams: • 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞-𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 • 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 — 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 • 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐈𝐌: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐀 = 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 → Are the right people — especially those closest to the customer — involved early? → Is there clarity across functions on what success looks like? 𝐈 = 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 → Will this change affect trust, retention, or experience in a meaningful way? → Are we measuring more than just internal efficiency? 𝐌 = 𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 → Is this a moment where human context still matters? → If we get it wrong, what’s the cost? You don’t need more tools. You need sharper alignment. 𝐀𝐈𝐌 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞.