Picture this: your sales manager is pushing for a bigger marketing budget to hit their targets, but your operations manager insists he needs budget to streamline production and meet future demand. Meanwhile, your finance lead is holding back both requests, worried about cash flow.
Managers often focus on what’s best from their perspective or for their own department, but this leads to decisions that don’t serve the business as a whole and cause unnecessary friction.
For example, when one manager pushes for extra budget to meet their team’s targets, it might mean another department can’t invest in something critical. Instead of pulling together toward the same goals, everyone feels like they’re fighting for their own corner—and the business pays the price.
The way to fix this is to get your managers aligned.
Once you do this it leads to smoother day-to-day operations, quicker decisions because everyone’s on the same page, and faster business growth as teams work together toward shared goals.
The Core of the Problem —and the Solution
First, it’s useful to take a step back and understand what’s causing the problem.
In my experience, Managers default to a “department-first” mindset because they don’t have the tools to think like leaders of the business.
Also, they’re often incentivised and measured by their department’s performance, not by how well the business performs overall.
Without strategic alignment, accountability and developing a “business first” mindset, they end up competing for resources instead of working together for the best business outcome.
Businesses get stuck in this situation because many CEOs and MDs naturally assume their managers will develop over time and start to take a broader perspective.
That they’ll see the bigger picture and make decisions in the interest of the business without needing guidance. But the reality is, without a strategic shift from the CEO or MD, most managers stick to what they know—looking after their area.
Let’s move onto how to fix this.
The Solution
There are three primary parts:
- Ensure Every Manager Operates from the Same Playbook
This means being absolutely clear about where the business is going, what the key priorities are, and how each department contributes to achieving them. The goal is to remove ambiguity and create shared purpose, so every manager is aligned with the overarching business objectives—not just their departmental targets.
Without this, your managers are paddling in different directions, causing inefficiencies and conflict.
With alignment, decisions become quicker, priorities clearer, and collaboration second nature.
- Equip Your Managers to Lead Like Business Owners
Business owners don’t just focus on tasks or individual teams—they take responsibility for the success of the entire business. This means thinking strategically, balancing priorities, and making decisions that serve the whole organization, not just one piece of it.
Your managers need to adopt this same perspective. They should anticipate challenges, weigh competing priorities, and act with a focus on what drives the business forward—not just what benefits their department.
- Make the Management Team the First Priority
The biggest shift your managers need to make is understanding that their main responsibility isn’t just to their department—it’s to the management team and the business overall. Without this, they’ll always put their team first, which leads to decisions that cause conflict and hold the business back.
Here’s the key question to ask them:
“Who is your first team—the management team or your department?”
If they answer “my department,” they’re not aligned with the business as a whole. They’re stuck in silos, making decisions that only help their team hit targets, even if it creates problems elsewhere.
To move this forward they must see the management team as their first priority.
When they do, they’ll make decisions that serve the business overall. Instead of disagreeing about budgets or priorities, they’ll work together to figure out the best solutions for the company.
When this mindset shift happens, you’ll notice:
- Less friction
- Clearer priorities across the business.
- Faster decisions because everyone’s aligned.
The Results Speak for Themselves
These shifts will change how your whole business runs.
When your managers are aligned around common goals, start thinking beyond their own departments, and put the management team first, everything improves.
They work together, make clearer decisions, and move the business forward.
One MD I worked with experienced this firsthand. His managers were stuck in silos—sales wanted more marketing spend, operations focused on investment in production, and finance blocked both to protect cash flow.
After making these shifts, the dynamic completely changed. The management team aligned around shared goals, prioritised resources based on what was best for the business, and worked collaboratively to solve problems.
Decisions became faster, investments made in the right areas and the business made faster progress.
The exact result the MD wanted.
The Next Step
If you want a management team that takes ownership, works together seamlessly, and drives the business forward without constant oversight, I’m hosting a free Masterclass:
How to Get Your Managers to Actually Manage—and Save Yourself 8+ Hours of Firefighting Every Week
In this session, I’ll share the exact strategies I’ve used with my clients—CEOs and MDs—to help them build self-sufficient, high-performing management teams.
You’ll discover:
- How to align your managers around shared business goals.
- The mindset shifts that turn managers into business leaders.
- The systems that make your management team easy to manage and operationally efficient.
I’ll share everything we did and how we did it—ready for you to copy and implement.
If you want a management team that consistently delivers, register here now: https://go.leannebridges.com/highperformingteam