How to lead with focus during a company-wide transformation

Fast Company

14 hours ago

Sam was barely a month into his CIO role when he saw the writing on the wall. The company's much-touted AI transformation was already unraveling.
AI had been declared the centerpiece of the company's enterprise strategy months earlier and placed under the chief innovation officer's remit. But after his predecessor left, ownership splintered. Sales launched their own pilots. Marketing spun up a 'tiger team.' The CTO declared AI strategy now belonged to his team.
By the time Sam arrived, priorities overlapped, resources were being drained by pet projects, and internal turf wars threatened the company's ability to compete—not just externally, but against itself.
Sam's experience isn't unique. We're living through a new era of hyper-competition—where the gap between AI and digital leaders, and those struggling to keep up, is widening fast. McKinsey reports the performance divide has surged over 60%, with AI leaders delivering two to six times more shareholder value than laggards.
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To compete, organizations must transform—not just technologically, but operationally. That means aligning hundreds or even thousands of people across business, tech, and operations to move in sync. But too often, transformation efforts break down from within, leaving teams on the ground with whiplash.
We've seen it firsthand. Kathryn, as an executive coach and keynote speaker, and Jenny, as an executive adviser and learning & development expert, bring frontline insights from coaching senior leaders and building systems that scale. The five strategies that follow are designed to help leaders align on what matters most—so the organization moves together, stays focused, and competes at the pace of change. 1. Reset the Executive Team Around a Shared Mission
As a new CIO, Sam didn't yet have the authority to realign the enterprise, but he had something just as powerful: insight. In his first 90 days, he listened. He tracked how AI efforts had fractured across functions and documented where resources were duplicative or misaligned. When the CEO asked him to share his observations with the executive committee, Sam presented a simple, yet revealing map of overlapping initiatives.
Crucially, he didn't catch his peers off-guard. He previewed his findings with each executive beforehand, inviting input and building trust. That transparency prompted the CEO to bring in outside support.
Together, we helped the executive team articulate a shared purpose: what only they, as the senior leadership team, could uniquely deliver for the company. They identified five enterprise-wide priorities, each with a clearly defined owner, desired outcome, and expected impact on employees, customers, and performance.
Here's how Sam approached his first 90 days combining insight, relationship-building, and clear communication to set the foundation for enterprise alignment.
Days 1-30 Days 31-60 Days 61-90 Key Objectives Listen and Map Landscape Socialize and Influence Align and Set the Foundation Activities • Conduct 1:1s with all executive peers and direct reports to understand priorities and concerns• Review previous AI initiatives to understand points of duplication or tension• Use a stakeholder mapping framework to identify key influencers and relationship gaps• Document where AI workstreams and ownership had fragmented• Create a high-level map of overlapping initiatives • Preview findings 1:1 with each peer to build trust and reduce surprises• Tailor insights to reflect what matters to each stakeholder (e.g., link to their KPIs)• Begin to draft what a unified path forward could look like • Present synthesized observations to the CEO and executive team• Recommend a reset: frame what the executive team can uniquely deliver • Help the executive team align on 3–5 shared priorities and clarify cross-functional ownership• Propose monthly progress reviews to protect alignment after the meeting ends
This first act wasn't about fixing everything. It was about creating enough clarity to stop the internal land grab, and lay the groundwork for collective leadership. 2. Make the Work—and the Rules—Visible
The next step: operationalize the strategy. The team mapped each enterprise priority, identified the key workstreams underneath, and assigned shared ownership. For each priority, they named what would need to change—structures, resources, meeting rhythms—to deliver on the commitment. Boundaries were clarified. Duplication was reduced. Expectations were reset.
Just as important, they agreed on how decisions would be made going forward. New governance forums were established to drive consistency across business, technology, and operations. Shared metrics were also introduced to track progress and flag misalignment early. Sam helped reframe AI, not as a stand-alone initiative, but as the enabler of every enterprise goal.
When your executive team agrees on what matters most, the next challenge is making it operational. These six questions can help you turn strategy into execution: Ownership: Who owns each workstream, and where is accountability shared? Decision rights: Who decides, who advises, and when? Governance: What forums and cadences keep teams aligned? Resourcing: Are people, budgets, and tools sufficient? Metrics: Are KPIs aligned and visible across teams? AI enablement: How will AI enhance, not hinder, core priorities?
A strategy that isn't operationalized is just a slide deck. Turn priorities into ownership, decisions, and habits. 3. Sequence the Work So Teams Don't Collide
Even the best strategy sessions won't fix a broken operating model. The real test of alignment is what happens after the meeting ends.
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This team didn't leave follow-through to chance. They created a monthly executive rhythm—not just for updates, but to review priorities, flag bottlenecks, and refine how they worked together. The meeting became a forcing mechanism to stay focused and accountable.
But alignment isn't just about sticking to the plan—it's also about pacing. With every department eager to lead, the team had to get intentional about sequencing. Instead of launching everything at once, they assigned each enterprise priority to a lead function and a specific quarter. Each team had clarity on when to step up—and just as importantly, when to support others.
For Sam, this meant aligning with his peers on milestones, outcomes, and KPIs upfront. Rather than letting Sales, Marketing, and the CTO's team charge ahead in parallel, the CIO worked with the CEO and fellow executives to establish a clear sequence:
Q1: The CTO's team built the core AI infrastructure and governance standards.
The CTO's team built the core AI infrastructure and governance standards. Q2: Sales piloted AI-driven prospecting tools based on that foundation.
Sales piloted AI-driven prospecting tools based on that foundation. Q3: Marketing launched AI-powered customer insights and personalization campaigns.
This staggered approach gave each function space to lead, and ensured that each phase built upon the last. Teams had space to lead, room to learn, and clarity on when to pivot. That's what sequencing unlocks. 4. Cascade Relentlessly—and Build a Feedback Loop
Even the strongest executive alignment fails if it stops at the top. Sam's team knew that priorities don't become real until they're understood—and acted on—at every level.
To make it stick, they rolled out a deliberate cascade plan. Enterprise priorities were translated into department-specific objectives, with clear owners and timelines. Managers were equipped with simple, consistent talking points. Leaders reinforced the 'why,' not just the 'what,' connecting daily work to the bigger picture.
Just as important, they established a real-time feedback loop. One early win came from a frontline support team using an AI-enabled tool to streamline customer inquiries. The impact was quickly elevated and scaled across other units.
If your priorities haven't reached the teams doing the work, you don't have alignment—you have a memo. 5. Build the Skills Your Transformation Demands
Sustained transformation doesn't just require execution: it demands growth. Even senior leaders need support as they shift roles, evolve mindsets, and lead through uncertainty. That's especially true with AI, where capabilities change faster than most organizations can hire or retain.
That's why Sam's company paired their reset with skill-building. With the CEO's backing, they invested in leadership development, executive coaching, and experiential learning focused on cross-functional collaboration, strategic influence, and change management.
Sam also upskilled his own team. Once a centralized AI strategy group, they became enablers—helping business units adopt AI tools effectively. That required new set skills: AI literacy, and consultative problem-solving. Lead the Way, Then Lead Together
Transformation isn't a one-off project. It's an ongoing investment in how people think, work, and lead. In high-stakes environments, even the strongest strategies can fracture without focus, discipline, and shared purpose at the top.
Sam's story is a reminder: success doesn't start with a new initiative. It begins with how senior leaders show up—so that transformation becomes more than a mandate.
You don't have to do everything at once. Just make sure the most important work gets done—together.