The Leadership Rhythm: Balancing Divergence and Convergence
Why Strategic Energy Fades—and How to Build Systems That Keep It Alive
This left of bang leadership essay is an “unlocked article” typically reserved for paying subscribers to The CP Journal.
Many leaders know the moment. The strategy workshop ends, the whiteboards are full, and for the first time in a while, everyone seems to see the same picture. Energy fills the room. Not because of hype or slogans, but because of clarity.
People understand the environment they’re operating in: the forces shaping their world, the constraints and opportunities ahead. And they know the priorities. They know what truly matters and what doesn’t. That combination creates confidence because it replaces scattered effort with focused purpose.
It’s one of the most powerful moments in leadership, whether you’re guiding a public safety organization through uncertainty, running a business, or simply leading yourself. The principles are the same: clarity of the environment, focus on the priorities, and alignment on what success looks like.
But unfortunately, for many organization, that energy fades months later. The focus dulls. People return to the same reactive grind they were trying to escape. The problem isn’t that the strategy was wrong, but that the rhythm that produced that clarity and focus wasn’t maintained.
This article is about how leaders—of any size team or any type of organization—can keep that rhythm alive by maintaining a continual cycle of divergence and convergence.
The Leadership Balance: Divergence and Convergence
In a recent article, Mike Jones wrote, “Strategy isn’t just an analytical problem. It’s a perceptual one.” His point was that agreement on words doesn’t mean alignment on meaning. Because people have different beliefs, experiences, and perspectives, they naturally diverge in their understanding of what an organization’s strategy is. Yet is convergence that ensures those differences translate into coordinated action across a team and organization.
Maintaining an organization’s energy, clarity, and focus are the result of how organizations pursue these two contrasting, yet essential, modes.
Divergence is exploration—when leaders and teams look outward, question assumptions, and broaden their understanding of a changing environment. It’s the creative spark that fuels foresight and innovation.
Convergence is focus—when those perspectives are brought together into a shared course of action, grounded in reality, resourced, and pursued with discipline.
While both dynamics have advantages, it is the balance that is important. When one dominates, organizations tilt off balance.
Too much divergence leads to chaos with lots of ideas, but little progress.
Too much convergence leads to rigidity, with a lot of focus but lacking in creativity or adaptability.
The most effective leaders understand that both modes are necessary and that their job isn’t to choose between them, but to find a way to maintain the energy they create.
Strategy Development as the Training Ground
In my consulting work, I’ve seen this rhythm play out during preparedness strategy sessions and left of bang strategic briefings, or when supporting organizations developing their work plans for the following year.
The best sessions feel alive because there is someone in the room who naturally challenges assumptions. They might be considering the convergence of threats and hazards, thinking about how technology is changing their field, or discussing shifting expectations from their customers or the public. They naturally offer a fresh perspective that reframes problems and provides contours to the operating environment so that others can build on it, connecting that insight to operational realities.
The conversation oscillates—open, then narrow; question, then decide. Divergence reveals the environment. Convergence focuses effort.
And that’s the point: the workshop isn’t the strategy—it’s the rehearsal space where leaders learn how to balance these two forces. The clarity, focus, and energy people feel afterward come from that process, not from the PowerPoint or the workshop deliverables.
It is the rehearsal space because the true test begins the moment the meeting and workshop end. Because clarity and focus are perishable, leaders who don’t intentionally rebuild and maintain that dynamic as part of their normal operating rhythm will watch them fade over the coming months.
An actionable strategy requires that the bid for success is paired with a management or governance structure that operationalizes the divergence and convergence required to first identify, and then pursue opportunities.
Operationalizing the Rhythm
It is always our recommendation that leaders shouldn’t leave this to chance, but instead build systems that recreate that rhythm across the year.
Establish a recurring structure for alignment. Many organizations use a Project Management Office (PMO) or similar framework—not just for tracking projects, but for governing strategy. Regular portfolio reviews allow leaders to provide subtle steering and course corrections that allow independent project managers to continue leading change through their projects, while maintaining the organization’s priorities.
Lead through selective action. Leadership alignment isn’t expressed in words—it’s revealed through choices. What gets funded, staffed, or spotlighted signals what truly matters. Each go/no-go decision is an act of convergence that reinforces clarity. It ensures that the natural tendency to add requirements or tasks is balanced with cutting the things that are no longer priorities. It allows for the operationalization of refining priorities in response to a changing environment.
Protect space for real divergence. The best leaders don’t demand constant agreement during the convergence process, but they create moments for dissent and exploration. They invite team members to surface what they see in the field that challenges assumptions and reveals blind spots. This ensures that divergence arises naturally from the work, not as a performative ritual.
Model “disagree and commit.” As Jeff Bezos wrote, productive teams don’t wait for unanimity. They debate openly, then commit collectively. This practice allows divergence to serve its purpose—testing assumptions—without fracturing unity. Remember, teams take their cues from leaders; the behaviors you model will soon become the norm. If you want this, you have to do it too.
Leaders set this tone during the workshop. But maintaining it through the year is the discipline that keeps strategy from becoming shelfware. The workshop builds capability; the year proves whether that capability endures.
Sustaining Clarity and Focus
Strategy, at its core, is a bid for success—a hypothesis about how your organization can win in a changing environment. That bet depends on two things: the willingness to see differently, and the discipline to move together.
Leaders who master that rhythm don’t need to chase alignment because it becomes the culture. They create organizations that are both adaptable and focused, capable of responding to change without losing their sense of purpose.
That’s what it means to lead left of bang—not reacting to fragmentation, but preventing it entirely.
Takeaway for Emerging Leaders
You don’t need a team or a title to start practicing this rhythm. Here’s how you can develop it in your own leadership:
Expand your field of view. Read outside your profession. Seek mentors who think differently. Question assumptions about how your world works. Divergence begins with curiosity.
Reconnect your learning to your goals. After exploring new perspectives, pause to synthesize. What did you learn that actually changes how you’ll act this week? Reflection is the convergence moment that turns curiosity into capability.
Demonstrate disciplined curiosity. When others see that you explore widely and follow through precisely, you gain credibility as a future-ready leader—one who balances creativity with execution.
These small habits train the same decision muscles you’ll need later as a senior leader, and they’ll help you stand out today.
Enjoyed This Article? Pass It On.
If this article sparked ideas, share it with your network, a colleague, or on social media. Sharing is how we expand the community of professionals committed to staying left of bang.