Agreement or Alignment: A Stacey Abrams Commentary

In September 2025, I heard Stacey Abrams speak at the annual fundraiser for Seattle’s Homestead Community Land Trust. During her talk, she was asked about her time serving as the House Minority Leader in the Georgia General Assembly. Specifically, she was asked about how she was able to bridge differences in a conservative-led General Assembly.

Stacey replied, “Agreement isn’t the point – alignment is.” She said that she would always first seek agreement, and if that proved to be impossible, she shifted her collaboration strategy to that of seeking alignment. It’s easy to see that this shift in effort yields incredibly rich exchanges and interactions than those that seek to gain uniform agreement from participants.

Stacey states a simple truth when she notes that to be in agreement, we all must come to our decisions for the same reasons, that we come from the same experiences or have the same philosophical grounding. But if we focus on the myriad reasons why a specific “vote” on a topic matters – reasons informed by the experiences that people bring to the table – we can more easily find alignment on why a certain “thing” needs to happen.

I think of how often I’ve been in discussions where people continue to hammer what they believe to be the only way something should be. Opposition easily lines up to shoot down that belief and agreement is never reached. But if we had simply invited all voices to speak into the room to name all of the reasons something should be, it is exponentially more likely that the group will reach alignment on which way to go. Alignment informed with an inclusive versus exclusive strategy.

During a webinar sponsored by The Aspen Institute, also held in September 2025, titled, “The Future of Equal Opportunity”, Stacey brilliantly shared, “… we don’t have to have the same outcomes in mind to have the same direction to get there.”

I am so living in this idea that strategically investing in alignment, versus arguing to reach agreement, is a more effective and efficient leadership instinct. I can imagine that when the heated nature of brisk conversations is tapped down, people move away from defensive posturing or aggressively holding their stance and participants more easily lean in to how others view a possible outcome.

It’s like the offense of a football team. They align on the goal of scoring a touchdown and each player brings their unique perspective on how to make that happen based on the position they hold on the team.

Thank you, Stacey, for naming the power in focusing on shared goals brought forward by diverse perspectives. A common vision. Imagine that.

Let’s all try better on this alignment thing.