Success can be deceptive. A company can be profitable, a nonprofit can hit its metrics, a program can be funded, and a leader can keep delivering results – and still be out of alignment with the future they say they want to build.
The question is not simply, “Is this working?” The better question is,
“Is this working toward where we say we are going?”
That is where mission, vision, and values become more than statements. They become frameworks for decision-making. Your mission should clarify why the work matters. Your vision should shape what you are building toward. Your values should influence how decisions are made along the way. If those three things do not affect where you invest, what you measure, what you redesign, what you stop doing, and what you build next, they are not actually guiding the organization.
Success Can Hide Misalignment
Failure usually gets our attention quickly. Success can do the opposite.
A program may be well attended and still create barriers for the people it was intended to serve. A company may be growing while its systems, leadership structure, or financial infrastructure are no longer equipped for the next level. A nonprofit may continue funding an established program because it has always worked, even when the community, market, or mission has evolved.
The same thing happens personally. A leader can continue performing at a high level while quietly realizing that the future being built no longer matches the future they actually want.
Working and aligned are not the same thing.
Misalignment has a cost. It can show up in resources being invested in work that no longer advances the vision, teams carrying programs that have outlived their purpose, or leaders making decisions based on precedent instead of strategy. It can also show up when organizations measure what is easiest to report rather than what matters most.
Vision Should Change Today’s Decisions
A vision statement should not describe a future that has no influence on the present. It should force better questions.
Are our current programs moving us toward the future we say we want? Are our systems designed for the people we intend to serve? Are our resources aligned with our highest priorities? Are we continuing something because it is effective, or simply because it is familiar?
And perhaps the most important question is this:
If we keep operating exactly as we are today, will the organization we’ll have created five or ten years from now actually fulfill our mission?
That is strategic alignment: Alignment is the discipline of comparing today’s decisions with tomorrow’s vision.
The Alignment Test
Before continuing, expanding, funding, or scaling something, leaders should ask five questions:
Mission: Does this still serve why we exist? Is it actually working for the people it was designed to serve?
Values: Are we doing it in a way that reflects how we say we operate?
Vision: Does this move us toward where we want to go? If we continue this for the next five or ten years, are we building what we want to become?
These questions matter for organizations, but they also matter personally. The hardest thing to change is not always what failed. Sometimes it is what succeeded. Failure forces reflection. Success can postpone it. You do not have to wait until something is broken to decide that something needs to evolve.
Alignment Requires Courage Before Crisis
The goal is not constant change. The goal is intentional alignment.
That means keeping what still serves the vision, strengthening what needs to evolve, redesigning what creates barriers, and stopping the investment of time, money, or energy in work that no longer takes you where you intend to go.
The strongest leaders do not wait until circumstances force change. They are willing to examine what is working and still ask whether it deserves to continue.
That is not failure: It is leadership. It is strategy and it is alignment.
Are you willing to switch gears from what is working with what is aligned to the vision you have for tomorrow?
AI & Authenticity Disclaimer: The ideas, frameworks, lessons, lived experiences, and professional perspective reflected in this article are Bridget B Espinosa’s. AI may be used to research, organize, refine, finesse, or format outlines and outputs. Bridget personally performs the final edit and retains final authorship and approval.
By Bridget B. Espinosa, Puente Cultural Integration
“Balance” is a misguided metaphor because it conveys the idea that we have to give up the prospect of success in one part of our lives in order to have it in another part—one or the other. ” Stewart Friedman
This perfectly explains why I reject this idea of “work life balance” and embrace the idea of HARMONY!
For years we have been told that we need to find a work-life balance. There is no such thing. This is a myth that does nothing but generate stress, and frustration. Having studied music in my youth, I have been drawn to the word harmony. Harmony is different from balance, it reflects the idea that there can be multiple layers working together in a pleasing way. There are many definitions of harmony, but the easiest to understand and achieve I found on yourdictionary.com “A combination of parts into a pleasing or orderly whole; congruity or agreement in feeling, action, ideas, interests, etc.; peaceable or friendly relations.”
We often use the word harmony to describe both the environment and our relationships – living in harmony is a common mantra. However, it is an uncommon description of our internal relationships with our responsibilities. Harmony is not difficult to achieve if you accept that different aspects of your life will be “singing the melody” while other factors provide the harmony. This metaphor shows that our family, work, social, health, and community lives can all live alongside one another – each one can take its turn providing the fundamental melody and our lives can be just as harmonious and beautiful regardless of which takes the lead.
Harmony represents the world I want to live in: people of many backgrounds, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientation, sizes, professions, abilities, languages, all connected – different voices, religions, cultures, perspectives, opiniones, ideas – all living in harmony.
Important to the analogy is when even one note is played or sung wrong the whole chord sound awful! When even one part of your life is out of whack, your whole life can feel like it’s falling apart. But the reality is that the adjustment to find harmony again is usually just a small tweak. When one person in the choir or one instrument in the band is out of tune, you have two choices:
In a rehearsal, you pause for a moment, address the issue and then start over making the correction.
In a live performance (aka real life), you just keep going. Normally the issue will work itself out, but if the problem continues you need to figure out what is causing the harmonies to go array and make the changes necessary so that it won’t happen again.
Based on a thorough review of the literature we introduce an integrated conceptualization of work-life balance involving two key dimensions: engagement in work life and nonwork life …
So F%^& this whole idea of “Work-Life Balance”, toss it out the window and just seek harmony.
I love listening to amazing vocal harmonies of diverse and talented singers. I sang for my entire youth and music continues to play an impactful role in my life. I searched for harmonies on youtube and found this incredible video. One of my former colleague’s sons is even featured in the best harmonies of 2021. This is soooo worth the time to take a listen and visualize these voices as the different elements of your life and how they can find harmony with one another.
The word ‘Harmony’ has been following me over the last year!
I was asked to sit on the advisory board of Detroit Harmony, an initiative led by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to provide musical instruments and experiences to every child in the City of Detroit.
My friend Laura LaBrie rebranded her Mysterious Mexico platforms to Maya Harmony. I have been following the Maya calendar, The Sacred Tzolk’in, trying to learn how to align my life to find the harmony that often eludes us.
Sacred Maya Calendar – The Path to Life
“The Sacred Tzolk’in is the story of humankind wrapped in a calendar, reminding us daily of our journey from birth into the heart of the Divine. We cycle endlessly through the story, reliving each chapter every 20 days. And so, the wheel turns, its path reminding us of our own story. And if we come into alignment with it, we come into alignment with the Heart of Sky, the Great Spirit. And when we come into alignment, we find balance, we find center, our lives come into flow, things go well with us, and we find our place in the Universe. And when we find our place in the Universe, we discover our connection to the One Heart that is in all and is all. “
I love this question:
“And so, as the Maya greet each other, I ask you, “Bix a bel? How is YOUR path?”
Another one of my passion projects is a weekly summer strolling music festival called Corktown Sounds. I have the honor to work with small businesses, musicians, and my team provides the content creation for this very cool event in Detroit. Shameless plug: We are hosting a Corktown Sounds Benefit Concert on February 4th. Tickets are on sale now!
I believe that we can have some really interesting discussions regarding harmony in our lives. Join the discussion and give your experiences regarding how to embrace harmony in:
Relationships
Work
Business
Health
Travel
Finances
??
What areas of your life need more harmony?
Here are other articles and blogs that embrace Harmony vs. Balance:
The Small Business Ethnic and Minority Media Appreciation Dinner on Wednesday, September 7th, 2022 brought together micro-business owners, Black and Brown community leaders and our Metro Detroit ethnic press together to network and celebrate at one of the most prestigious locations in the midwest, the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Our MC and one of our sponsors was the esteemed Mark Lee from The Lee Group, “It was an honor and privilege to MC and speak at this wonderful event honoring outstanding entrepreneurs. It was a celebration recognizing those truly making a difference.”
My favorite part of the evening was helping entrepreneurs to connect to one another and with media and government leaders. The cocktail hour in the Diego Rivera Court at the DIA was the perfect backdrop to weave relationships. It is not everyday that a taquero, a barber, a realtor, a contractor, and a cleaning company get to network with leaders in banking and government. Introducing some of our Business Alianzas clients to Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II was the highlight of the night for me!
Rob and Daisy CoronadoLt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist congratulating Elias Gutierrez Elena Guardiola
We are thrilled that the Puente Team was able to support the Small Business Ethnic and Minority Media Appreciation Dinner. Our original role was to ensure that there would be a diverse group of entrepreneurs invited, once again providing equitable opportunities for our clients and our community. This gala was by invitation only and we carefully curated the guest list and speakers with leaders in government, education, banking, real estate, and of course small business. Typically these types of events are primarily attended by corporate and nonprofit leaders, we intentionally kept our focus on our mom and pop businesses.
Successful Entrepreneurs, Start-Ups, Great Friends, Incredible Memories!
see the photo gallery below
Grateful for the Latino-Puente Team for their incredible work in organizing every detail of this event.
Left to Right:
Cintia Alejandra Mora
Claudia Rivera
Bridget Espinosa
Yazmin Payan Sanchez
“I would like to thank the assistance of personalities such as Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II, Mr. Roberto Nicolas Consul of Mexico, Bruce Morgan of WSU, Wafa Dinaro of Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Kevin Hardy editor of Detroit News, Gabriela Santiago Detroit City Council,This event would not have been possible without the support of these people or these companies.”
A note from our host, Elias Gutierrez, Publisher of Latino Press:
We are thrilled that Business Alianzas has had such a successful first year! We launched on February 7th, 2021 and we currently have 150 members of Business Alianzas as we head into renewals. If you are not a current member, you can register on our membership page. www.businessalianzas.org/membership
Our clients kept calling. On day 2 and 3, we had six clients needing long-term consulting for growth. We let them know that we were still figuring it out and that our services were no longer pro bono. Every one of our clients supported us and let us know that we were worth whatever we needed to charge – they needed our help. That Friday I met with two colleagues/ mentors to brainstorm next steps. It was agreed that for now I would not fight to keep the MI Hispanic Contractors Association, but the need for an organization for ALL entrepreneurs was needed.
Business Alianzas was branded that Friday afternoon sitting at El Salpicón over a couple rounds of Modelo Especial. I bought the domains, registered the Facebook page, and registered with the State of Michigan. Lots of brainstorming, dozens of text messages over the weekend with my staff and partners led to the first iteration of what is now BusinessAlianzas.org – a small business membership organization and referral network that specializes in connecting Latinx businesses to resources and opportunities. Puente Cultural Integration, LLC is the umbrella company and continues to provide direct connections, consulting, coaching, and technical assistance to small businesses, nonprofits, banks, and governmental agencies. We relaunched multiple events and workshops series that had been halted including morning networking (Cafecito with Business Alianzas), Happy Hours (Cheers! with Business Alianzas), and reconnected with past partner sponsors such as Alliance Catholic Credit Union, Comerica Bank, Flagstar Bank, and Fifth Third Bank all of whom we hope to work with again in 2022.
We are proud of all we accomplished in 2021. Below you will find our Annual Report for Puente Cultural Integration and Business Alianzas.
Puente Cultural Integration, LLC is the leading bilingual consulting agency in the State of Michigan supporting Hispanic small businesses and providing coaching to startups in the City of Detroit. We have worked with over a dozen agencies providing program development, project management, and as consultants to nonprofit organizations and governmental departments. Our most important work is helping immigrant business owners formalize their business practices. We start each day determining which businesses need our help.
We have a unique and multi-faceted approach to outreach to the immigrant communities we serve. Puente provided direct, door-to-door outreach to the West Vernor & Springwells Business Improvement District in Southwest Detroit from 2017-2021. During the pandemic, we shifted to direct phone calls, many months making up to 500 calls to ensure that business owners knew of the most recent changes to COVID-19 protocols, grants, and resources.
We currently have a mailing list of over 1000 email contacts, over 500 phone numbers, and we have over 100 direct clients that we are coaching through Business Alianzas.
This will be my second time presenting at Detroit Startup Week! If you’ve never attended DSW, this is the year to start. There is something for everyone – tech companies, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits all join together for a really powerful experience and it’s all FREE! I will presenting my newly launched BRIDGE Networking MODEL workshop.
Tuesday June 18th 3-4pm Happy Hour Immediately Following 2nd Floor of the Madison Building 1420 Washington Blvd, Detroit, MI 48226 #DETSW2019
Register on Eventbrite, then create your schedule on Sched. Be sure to do both steps! *STEP 1) *Sign-up on Eventbrite *STEP 2) *Sign-up on Sched and build your schedule
Bring your business cards and take a guided lesson on networking. This Ted-X style Interactive Workshop will be led by professional “Connector”, Bridget Espinosa from Puente Cultural Integration. Effective networking skills is a requirement in this age of digital social interactions. Learn from a from an expert on how to bring value to every networking event. Go beyond the business card exchange and the LinkedIn contacts to truly create a powerful in-person network. This will be a literal hands-on interactive workshop where we will take you step-by-step on how to strengthen your elevator pitch, increase your value, and up your networking game. Grow your network while you learn using the PCI BRIDGE Model for Networking.
M = O = D = E = L =
Apply the BRIDGE Networking MODEL to help you remember that networking is not just about collecting business cards and perfecting your elevator pitch.
Come join me this coming Tuesday for a free Networking workshop – Happy Hour immediately following. Please share widely – this is open to the public, but registration is recommended because of limited capacity. We all know someone who could use a master’s class in how to network! Using my years of being a professional “Connector”, I have created an interactive Networking MODEL to help you to remember the most effective tips to successful networking – whether you are looking to boost sales, connect to resources, or find a job opportunity. In addition, there are free workshops, networking events, and opportunities all week long during #DetroitStartUpWeek. Register using the following links: Register on Eventbrite, then create your schedule on Sched. Be sure to do both steps! *STEP 1) *Sign-up on the Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/e/detroit-startup-week-2019-detsw2019-tickets-61543257540?aff=eac2 *STEP 2) *Sign-up on Sched and build your schedule https://techstarsstartupweekdetroit2019.sched.com
We so excited for the BRIDGE Bilingual Business Expo & Networking Event today 5:30-7:30 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel – Farmington Hills!
If you haven’t bought your ticket, use Promo Code BRIDGE for $5 off your ticket! Price is $20 at the door so save by pre-registering! may29networkingexpo.eventbrite.com
Here is our line-up:
Business Expo
Accounting Aid Society
Clean Up Time, LLC
Young Living
Artesanía Textíl
Hola Google
National Microloan Conference
Better Business Bureau
Michigan Healthy
Perk Pros LLC
KDG SWEET DELITE LLC
Salsas Mexia
B Intentional
CVG MARKETING, LLC
Bilingual Communications Solutions LLC
Raymond James
AproMex
Centro Cultural Hispano
NUMU Softoys
Latino Pres
Explosiva 1430
Marma G Creation
Featherstone Moments
Blue Order
Emmy’s Creations
Tequila Cabresto
Latino Press
Alliance Catholic Credit Union
Puente Cultural
New Metro Construction LLC
Greater Farmington Area Chamber of Commerce
Orange Theory Fitness
We are so grateful to our partners at the Greater Farmington Area Chamber of Commerce, Red Global MX – Capítulo Detroit, Latino Press, the Farmington Voice, and La Explosiva Radio 1480 AM who will be transmitting live from the Expo!
See you at the Crowne Plaza Farmington Hills at 5:30pm for networking and a sample of a Tequila Cabresto margarita!
If you haven’t bought your ticket, use Promo Code BRIDGE for $5 off your ticket! Price is $20 at the door so save by pre-registering! may29networkingexpo.eventbrite.com
I’m excited to share my latest project – the BRIDGE Bilingual Business Expo & Networking Event scheduled for May 29th with our BRIDGE Partners, the newly renovated Crowne Plaza Farmington Hills and the Greater Farmington Area Chamber of Commerce.
BRIDGE Bilingual Business Expo & Networking Event May 29th 5:30-7:30pm
Crowne Plaza Hotel 37529 Grand River Ave, Farmington Hills, MI 48335
Network with local leaders, business owners, and entrepreneurs
Connect with the Greater Area Farmington Chamber of Commerce
