The Aligned CEO
Becoming a CEO can happen in a few different ways…
You can get handed the position from a family member, you can work your way up to the top of the organization or you can do what I did…leave your stable 9-5 and jump into the land of unknown as a purpose driven business owner. Either way, you’re never ready. You might think you are but something always cuts you off at the knees and makes you rethink your decisions over and over and over. “ Am I right for this?”, “Did I do the right thing?”, “What if I make the wrong call here?”, “Maybe I wasn’t ready?”…..Sound familiar?
Here’s what I’ve learned, coaching hundreds of founders and CEO’s, speaking on stages to thousands of entrepreneurs and industry leaders - Everyone, at some point, feels out of alignment. Whether they have lost their sense of purpose, lost their sense of drive, lost their JOY in the work they do….and when this happens, THAT is when you start to question…you start to get distracted and your team, your customers, your family, your community….they can ALL feel it. So I’ve put together a simple 3 steps to help you use The Joy Method and get back into alignment in just a few minutes…..You Ready? Here we go….
Step 1 - Reflect
Reflect on who you are. Where you came from. What have you endured to get to where you are. What do you want in life? What legacy do you want to leave? Who do you want to be remembered as? What problems are you most likely to solve? What is the ONE action that will move the needle in your business or team right now? Is there someone or something that is holding you/your team back from taking this action? These are just a few questions you need to be asking yourself in this moment of chaos. Take a beat. Clear your mind and REFLECT. When CEO’s actually take the TIME to meditate….truly sit back, close your eyes, clear your mind and thoughtfully REFLECT - their teams are 64% more likely to follow suit. Meditation (Reflection) will reduce stress and burnout, improve focus and concentration, increase creativity, enhance decision making AND boost emotional intelligence. This is a crucial step before heading into the alignment phase.
Step 2 - Align
Once you've taken the time to reflect, now it's time to get honest about where you actually are versus where you want to be. Alignment isn't about having the perfect plan - it's about making sure your actions, your energy, and your priorities are pointed in the same direction as your purpose.
Ask yourself: What is actually on my plate right now - and does it belong there? What am I saying yes to out of obligation instead of intention? Where am I spending the most energy and is it moving me closer to the leader I said I wanted to be?
Here's the hard truth: most CEOs are misaligned not because they don't know what they want, but because they haven't given themselves permission to want it out loud. They've buried their vision under everyone else's urgency. Alignment is the practice of coming back to yourself - your values, your vision, your non-negotiables - and making decisions from that place instead of from fear, pressure, or comparison.
When you are aligned, your team feels it. Your clients feel it. Your revenue reflects it. Alignment isn't a luxury for when things slow down. It's the strategy that keeps things moving.
Step 3 - Commit
Reflection without action is just journaling. Alignment without commitment is just awareness. The third step is where most people stall - and it's the one that changes everything.
Commitment means deciding - right now, not when the timing is better or the fear goes away - what your next move is. One move. Not ten. Not a new 90-day plan. One thing that, if you did it today, would shift the trajectory of your business or your team.
Write it down. Say it out loud. Tell someone who will hold you to it.
The most aligned CEOs I know aren't the ones with the cleanest calendars or the biggest teams. They're the ones who have learned to make a decision and move — even when it's uncomfortable, even when the outcome isn't guaranteed, even when the voice in their head is still asking "are you sure?"
That's what The JOY Method is really about. Not three steps to feeling better. Three steps to showing up as the leader you already are — on purpose, with clarity, and without apology.
Joy starts here. Your next move is waiting.