Have you held a congruency conference lately?

Is your organization filled with incongruent blunders? Follow these five steps to fix those problems before they worsen

Congruency. It is a word we don’t use enough and a virtue we should use more often in our companies, government agencies and nonprofits.

The CEOs of Ford, GM and Chrysler need to learn congruency. So do their boards of directors, communications teams, unions, and union bosses.

Below are examples of a lack of congruency and five steps you should take immediately where you work.

Lack of congruency

Congruency means things should be in alignment or harmony. For communicators, executives, boards and employees, congruency should mean: do your words match your actions, and do your actions match your words.

A lack of congruency triggers your crisis communications plan, and usually involves fence mending through employee communications.

A perfect example is the lack of congruency when the high-paid auto CEOs flew private jets to Washington, D.C., to ask Congress to give them bailout money. You get a luxury salary and fly a luxury jet and you want taxpayer money? That’s a lack of congruency.