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.
I have decided to eliminate the word “busy” from my vocabulary. My life is full.I am never too busy to connect with people that bring value and meaning to my life.
One of the greatest benefits and goals of entrepreneurship – when it is planned correctly – is that you have more control over your time.
When you look to add or remove tasks from your calendar – ask yourself:
“What people and activities provide value and meaning to my life / my business?”
This is how I created a FULL life and not a busy one:
Be present wherever you are.* Make this a stated value of your company and your life.
Be intentional about how you manage your calendar and prioritize how you spend your time. (The word INTENTION was my annual theme in 2020.
Have a clear mission and vision, use those as your barometer. Our Puente and XPM missions are written, published and reviewed frequently. Understand your “WHY”. (I highly recommend the TedTalk and book, Start with Why by Simon Sinek.)
Accept that your to-do list will never be completed and that is okay. Your work day and work week must end and there will always be another day. Shut the computer, turn of the phone, if possible. Keep lists, but learn to put them away. Take time each day/week for yourself, for your family, friends, for non-work related activities. (See #1*)
Seek Harmony in your life. Reject the myth of work-life balance – it sets you up for a teeter-totter of failure. (Read my previous blog on Harmony here – it our 2023 Annual Theme.)
Sleep 7-8 hours at least six days a week! I protect my sleeping hours. If you are tired, you will always feel stressed and like you do not have enough time. If you are rested, you will be more productive! (I have been known to cancel or reschedule morning meetings in the middle of the night if I am struggling with insomnia or ended up going to bed way too late for whatever reason.)
Create a team. Surround yourself with good people – hire out your weaknesses, work in your strengths. If you can’t afford an employee yet, form partnerships or hire subcontractors and interns. (Hiring a good employee is the best investment you can make in your business!)
For those thatfollow me on social media, you know I always find time for the beach, my family, live music, happy hour, and networking events!
These activities bring me joy and they provide value and meaning to my life. For years, I rarely missed my boys’ soccer games, banquets, band concerts, or performances. My husband and I prioritized date nights and took vacations to visit friends and family. I live in both Michigan and Mexico – coming home for important family holidays and events: Thanksgiving, Christmas and NYE, Paco’s birthday, Diego’s farewell party, my mom’s birthday, and Mother’s Day. Spending time, especially holidays, with my family and friends is one of my core values.*
I hate it when people tell me I am “too busy”. I will always make time and prioritize people and opportunities to connect. It’s all about determining what you value.
If this resonated with you, you’ll also enjoy this video clip by Darria Long – I’m including both the clip and the full video down below.
Mi vida está llena – No estoy “demasiado ocupada”
He decidido eliminar la palabra “ocupada” de mi vocabulario. Mi vida está llena. Nunca estoy demasiado ocupada para conectarme con personas que aportan valor y significado a mi vida.
Uno de los mayores beneficios y objetivos del emprendimiento – cuando se planifica correctamente – es que tienes más control sobre tu tiempo.
Cuando busques agregar o eliminar tareas de tu calendario, pregúntate: “¿Qué personas y actividades aportan valor y significado a mi vida / mi negocio?” Así es como creé una vida LLENA y no una ocupada:
Sé presente dondequiera que estés.* Haz de esto un valor declarado de tu empresa y tu vida.
Sé intencional sobre cómo manejas tu calendario y prioriza cómo pasas tu tiempo. (La palabra INTENCIÓN fue mi tema anual en 2020. Leer más.
Tener una misión y visión claras, úsalas como tu barómetro. Nuestras misiones de Puente y XPM están escritas, publicadas y revisadas frecuentemente. Entiende tu “POR QUÉ”. (Recomiendo altamente el TedTalk y el libro, Comienza con el Por Qué de Simon Sinek.)
Acepta que tu lista de tareas nunca se completará y eso está bien. Tu día laboral y semana laboral deben terminar y siempre habrá otro día. Cierra la computadora, apaga el teléfono, si es posible. Mantén listas, pero aprende a guardarlas. Tómate un tiempo cada día/semana para ti, para tu familia, amigos, para actividades no relacionadas con el trabajo. (Ver #1*)
Busca la Armonía en tu vida. Rechaza el mito del equilibrio entre trabajo y vida personal – te prepara para un fracaso de sube y baja. (Lee mi blog anterior sobre Armonía aquí – es nuestro Tema Anual 2023.)
¡Duerme 7-8 horas al menos seis días a la semana! Protejo mis horas de sueño. Si estás cansada, siempre sentirás estrés y como si no tuvieras suficiente tiempo. Si estás descansada, ¡serás más productiva! (Se sabe que he cancelado o reprogramado reuniones matutinas en medio de la noche si estoy luchando con insomnio o terminé acostándome demasiado tarde por cualquier razón.)
Crea un equipo. Rodéate de buenas personas – externaliza tus debilidades, trabaja en tus fortalezas. Si aún no puedes permitirte una empleada, forma asociaciones o contrata subcontratistas y pasantes. (¡Contratar a una buena empleada es la mejor inversión que puedes hacer en tu negocio!)
Para aquellas que me siguen en redes sociales, saben que siempre encuentro tiempo para la playa, mi familia, música en vivo, happy hour y eventos de networking.
Estas actividades me brindan alegría y aportan valor y significado a mi vida. Durante años, rara vez me perdí los partidos de fútbol de mis hijos, banquetes, conciertos de banda o actuaciones. Mi esposo y yo priorizamos las noches de cita y tomamos vacaciones para visitar amigos y familiares. Vivo tanto en Michigan como en México – regresando a casa para importantes fiestas y eventos familiares: Acción de Gracias, Navidad y Año Nuevo, el cumpleaños de Paco, la fiesta de despedida de Diego, el cumpleaños de mi madre y el Día de la Madre. Pasar tiempo, especialmente las fiestas, con mi familia y amigos es uno de mis valores fundamentales.*
Odio cuando la gente me dice que estoy “demasiado ocupada”. Siempre haré tiempo y priorizaré a personas y oportunidades para conectar. Se trata de determinar lo que valoras.
Si esto te resonó, también disfrutarás de este videoclip de Darria Long. Estoy incluyendo el video completo a continuación.
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:
Welcome to the tenth and final post in the “10 Ways to Support Immigrants and Refugees” series!
#1: VOTE!
The conclusion of our 10 Ways to Support Immigrants and Refugees series is quite simple: if you care about immigrants and their rights, vote for candidates who support their rights.
Check out websites such as ISideWith to see how your values align with different candidates’ values. Encourage others in your community to vote and to vote for candidates that will uphold the rights of immigrants and refugees.
How do you stay updated on issues affecting immigrants and refugees in your community and across the globe? Let us know on our social media!
Welcome to the first post in the “10 Ways to Support Immigrants and Refugees” series!
“Give to every human being every right that you claim for yourself.”
– Robert Green Ingersoll
#10: Educate Yourself
Although immigration and refugee crises do not directly affect all of us, they impact the people in our neighborhoods and our communities as a whole. Immigrants and refugees contribute greatly to the U.S. economy, and they account for 13.7% of the U.S. population, as of 2020.
In order to address issues that impact immigrants in our communities and worldwide, we must educate ourselves. This can be a challenge with all of the information that is constantly thrown at us through social media. It can feel overwhelming to stay informed of all the issues facing our communities in this day and age. We can make it easier on ourselves by choosing to incorporate reliable sources into our social media feeds and media consumption.
The following are examples of ways to stay informed that can be incorporated into the media that you already consume:
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.
Our word for 2022 is ANCHORED. Puente Cultural Integration spent all of 2020 living with INTENTION and all of 2021 DEVELOPing our team, new programs, new platforms, new partnerships. We will revisit this metaphoric ANCHOR frequently, understanding that we are anchored with room to move, to ride the waves, but that our foundation is strong. We are rooted and connected to our community around us, connected to partnerships, connected to our clients, and connected as a team.
Definition of ANCHOR: A source of security or stability.
“At its core of most anchor symbolism, though, lies strength, faith, and hope. When a ship’s captain calls for the anchor to be dropped, it’s to stabilize and secure the craft, even in the stormiest of waters.”
a device usually of metal attached to a ship or boat by a cable and cast overboard to hold it in a particular place by means of a fluke that digs into the bottom
Preparing Your Anchor: “Be sure the anchor line is strong and long enough to anchor [your boat]. A good rule of thumb is that the length of the line should be at least seven to ten times the depth of the water where you are setting anchor.”
As I read the quote above, I reflected on the length of my line. I currently have a team of four talented, bilingual women in Detroit and we’ve just added our first male to the staff. In Puerto Morelos, I have my business partner and our contracted webmaster. So now Puente is a team of eight. In addition to our staff, we have just over 150 partners and clients. With this team, we will go far in 2022! Goals … 7×10
Hope you find your anchor in 2022!
Bridget B. Espinosa CEO, Puente Cultural Integration
This seemingly never-ending global pandemic has provoked so much change and challenge over the last two years. As we hear of new variants, flights cancelled, restrictions recommended and with the future uncertain, it is easy to sink into complacency or dispair. Our team at Puente Cultural Integration never stopped working for our clients. From the day we suspected a looming shut-down in early 2020, we tried to predict what our clients would need to survive. Little did we know what long-term effects and toll it would take on all of us. It will forever change the way we move, relate, and work in this world. I pray that in some ways, the change is for the better.
Change and challenge are good, but we never expected this much. Sometimes change and challenge provide opportunities for growth. It has been a crazy couple of years, that is for sure. I am reflecting on these last two years and looking forward to what the future holds. As we adapted and developed new programs this year, we never lost sight of our original Puente mission: “To ensure that [our clients] have equitable access to opportunities and resources.”
In January of 2020, Puente hired its first two part-time employees from Southwest Detroit, Mayra & Allyssa. I shared with them that my five year goal was to be able to work virtually so that I could travel the world and continue to lead Puente with a strong team in Detroit. Little did we know that in just a couple short months, we would be thrown into constant Zoom meetings.
Two weeks into the pandemic, in March of 2020, my closest colleague, Monica Casarez, passed away from COVID-19. Her loss was felt every single day as we supported our immigrant entrepreneurs without her. My instinct was to crawl into bed and pull the covers up over my head. But knowing that I had a team of 4-6 employees & interns waiting for my direction everyday and that our clients needed us more than ever propelled us forward with our consistent mantra of “Who needs our help today?” We spent all of 2020 in triage mode. (Reflection 2020 – Summary, January 2020)
To add to the challenges of these past two years, my youngest graduated in June 2021 after a crazy Senior year. We survived it. Schools have had even more challenges since I shared my thoughts on educating our children with Grace in Times of Covid in August of 2020. As referenced above, we are still experiencing loss. But if we continue to live with intention, we can manifest what we desire, regardless of the world around us.
More Changes and Challenges
Then at the beginning of this 2021, my work contracts got flipped upside down and inside out. Within three months, four major programs and contracts ended. The final one without notice or transition. I grieved. I felt like everything we had worked so hard for had been stripped from me, all the pro bono hours we invested, all the grants we wrote, and the successful programs we created in 2018-2020 were just “done”. I struggled with my fight or flight instincts. Should I just throw in the towel? Close my business & go find a <gulp> “job”? I had employees that counted on me. How would I pay them? I had clients who needed me. How would I get paid to help them?
On February 2nd, 2021 it was over. I actually breathed a sigh of relief after the months of uncertainty and stress and then I cried. I took one day. Cancelled all my meetings. Told my staff we’d figure it out. I’d take out a personal loan if I needed to – but they could trust they’d have their paycheck on the 15th. Made phone calls. I was on my own. So what next?
I had committed in January to #Develop2021, but what did that mean now that I was no longer contracted by a nonprofit organization and the over $500K in grant money for programs I had created no longer was available to my clients or my team?
It meant we would start over. (To Be Continued …)
Read more about how we adapted, changed, challenged and grew in 2021 and will continue to develop in 2022.
2021 New Programs and Success
Puente Cultural Integration, LLC – Team of 4 in Detroit / Team of 3 in Puerto Morelos
I rarely make New Year’s resolutions, but the last few years I have chosen a word, phrase, or mantra for the year. Since my birthday is in late August, I tend to do my goal setting at the start my school year – influenced by spending 18 years as a student, 21 years as an educator + 14 years parenting my school-aged children. This past year has been like no other, but I lived my life with INTENTION and gratitude in 2020. These have been particularly important habits that I will continue going forward and this year intentional goal-setting practices are extremely important.
What do you want to #DEVELOP2021? (use our #hashtag to share on FB / Twitter / IG!)
My word for 2021 is DEVELOP. There are a lot of ways to apply and interpret the word DEVELOP and I plan to explore them in depth with the Puente Team as we begin the year. We will DEVELOP ourselves through goal-setting, DEVELOP programs, help others to DEVELOP best practices, and help our contractors and partners with construction DEVELOPment projects.
These are just a few ways we will DEVELOP in 2021!
The first order will be for each of us to set individual professional and personal DEVELOPment SMART goals that we will measure each month. Stating general improvements or habits is not enough. Each goal must be SMART to help us DEVELOP habits to improve: Specific, Measurable, Relevant/Realistic, Time-Sensitive. Something as simple as “I will exercise for 30 min three times a week.”, or “I will create and post two videos a month.”, “I will read for at least 30 pages a week of both fiction and non-fiction.”
I will DEVELOP new entrepreneurship program models taking the lessons we learned from last year and determining which partners are best to execute them. DEVELOPing new partnerships throughout the State of Michigan may be another outcome in our business development.
We will be looking at opportunities and resources to help our clients establish their own goals and to help them DEVELOP new business practices for during COVID-19 and the post-pandemic economy. One important piece is to DEVELOP relationships and referral systems to help our small businesses to work together – B2B connections are more important than ever.
The members of the MI-HCA are very excited to continue to DEVELOP – building their capacity through the Bilingual Lead Abatement training program we’re providing through a partnership with the City of Detroit and the Erb Family Foundation and to add additional certifications such as the Residential Builders License. In addition, we’ve been working with the SDBA and O’Brien Construction to ensure that Southwest Detroit contractors / MI-HCA members are able to support the La Joya Gardens project, the first large DEVELOPment on W. Vernor Hwy in decades. We will continue to support them in every way we can!
What do you want to #DEVELOP2021? (use our #hashtag to share on FB / Twitter / IG!)
