Leadership Alignment: The Growth Lever Agencies Forget
Agencies blame clients, procurement, and AI for their problems. The real issue? Misaligned leadership.
Today, the stakes are higher and the timelines shorter. You're layering in AI vision, future-proof contracts, and upskilling people all while managing teams who aren't sure what "success" looks like anymore. Under the surface, structural friction is quietly killing your competitive edge.
The Cost of Competing Objectives
I worked with an agency producing award-caliber work with bleeding margins. One leader demanded "great work above all" while the other pushed profitability. Teams got mixed messages, stretched thin trying to serve both masters while also dealing with clients' needs.
Add to that the noise, excitement and fear around AI. There was no agency policy, structure, best practices, or AI counsel which meant a piecemeal approach with no strategy. Result? Everyone too busy firefighting to learn tools that could solve their efficiency problems.
The Hidden Friction That's Costing You
Your own systems are working against you:
• Workflows built for a different era
• False choices between "great work" and "profitable work"
• Siloed leadership creating competing priorities instead of complementary strengths
• AI initiatives led by whoever has bandwidth, not whoever has buy-in
• Teams caught between mixed messages about what actually matters
These aren't minor inefficiencies. They're revenue drains disguised as "creative process" or "maintaining standards."
What Alignment Actually Delivers
When leadership speaks with one voice, you don't just feel it you measure it:
• Great work and profitable work because the team knows both matter
• AI adoption that sticks led by trusted voices
• Clear priorities that let people focus instead of constantly context-switching
• Teams that trust the direction enough to move fast and take smart risks
The Reality Check
If your leadership team can't give the same answer to "When do we prioritize great work over margins?" or "Who's leading our AI strategy and why?" you're not just misaligned. You're forcing your team to make business decisions in creative briefs and midnight Slack messages.
Where I come in.
I help agencies:
• Identify the friction that's costing deals (it's usually not what you think)
• Build consensus around the non-negotiables fast
• Create positioning that cuts through the noise to attract the right clients
• Develop roadmaps that get everyone rowing in the same direction
Every month of misalignment is a month of missed growth.