---
title: "The Alignment Check: Free Leadership Guide | Velocity"
description: A short diagnostic on whether your team has real alignment, or just chemistry that hasn't been tested yet. A free leadership guide from Velocity Advisory Group.
image: https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/hubfs/Podcast%20Episodes/Podcast%20Assets%20%28Social%29/Guides/Velocity_AG_The_Alignment_Check_Social.png
---

[![Velocity Advisory Group](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/00%20Brand%20Assets/Velocity%20Logo%202023%20Wide.png?width=169&height=44&name=Velocity%20Logo%202023%20Wide.png)Velocity Advisory Group](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com)

Free guide · Activating Greatness

# Culture is the key competitive advantage.

A short diagnostic on whether your team has real alignment, or just chemistry that hasn't been tested yet.

- Three questions that separate alignment from chemistry
- Four actions for this week, from delegation to checking trend lines
- A quick-reference page you can pin up

## Get the free guide

The Alignment Check · 8 pages · PDF

Trusted by **800+ organizations** across **25+ industries** since 2009

Rarely trueAlmost always true

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Culture is the key competitive advantage.

The Alignment Check

THE THREE-QUESTION CHECK

GROUP A

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**2**

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GROUP B

**4**

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GROUP C

**7**

## What's inside

### The biggest enemy of strategy

Why leaders get less strategic when they're winning, and how chemistry gets mistaken for alignment.

### Alignment or just chemistry

Three questions on the shared goal, the why behind it, and the system that holds the team accountable.

### Delegate before you're forced to

Fechtman's stop-doing advice on holding on to everything, and why culture is the key competitive advantage.

### This week

Four actions to test alignment, hand off work, and check your trend lines, plus a quick-reference page.

[Get the guide](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/leadership-library/alignment-check#get-it)

## Results and feedback from Velocity's leadership work

**30% to 8%**employee turnover in one yearBiopharmaceutical company

**+126%**strategic alignment liftBiopharmaceutical company

**95%**retention rate in a construction leadership programVelocity client

> “Now associates understand themselves better, and leaders have new tools to support their teams.”

Chief People and Culture Officer, healthcare products distributor

> “Velocity challenged our team and brought us together in ways that have paid immediate dividends.”

Managing Partner, accounting and advisory firm

## Why alignment erodes

Chemistry survives good quarters. Alignment survives bad ones.

### Success Breeds Drift

When the team is winning, leaders ride the wave and stop asking whether everyone is still pointed at the same goal.

### Chemistry Mistaken for Alignment

People who like working together can still disagree on the goal, the reason behind it, and how they'll govern themselves.

### Goodwill Instead of Systems

Without a real system for self-governance, teams end up competing with each other for resources and talent.

## From chemistry to alignment

Real alignment means a common goal, a shared why, and a system that holds when the quarter gets hard.

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### TEST

Ask team members to state the shared goal in their own words, then compare the answers.

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### GOVERN

Write down how the team holds itself accountable. If it can't be written down, it's goodwill, not a system.

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### REALIGN

Use the data to bring the team back to a common goal. Velocity works with executive and senior leadership teams through coaching and team workshops to build alignment that holds.

**In Dave Fechtman's words:** "If you sense that things are out of alignment, guess what? Everyone else does too." The three questions are how to bring it into the open.

### Who this is for

- CEOs and executive teams coming off a strong year
- Senior leaders who sense the team is drifting
- Teams competing internally for resources and talent
- Leaders who struggle to let go of work

## Find out if your team is aligned or just getting along

Download the guide, then talk with us about closing the gaps your answers reveal.

[Get the guide](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/leadership-library/alignment-check#get-it)

**800+**organizations led through change

**25+**industries

**2009**building momentum since

© 2026 Velocity Advisory Group.velocityadvisorygroup.com

[Get the guide](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/leadership-library/alignment-check#get-it)