# Alignment Is Your Most Important Growth Strategy

> CEOs and marketers must agree on what growth means to avoid chasing the wrong metrics.
- Title: Alignment Is Your Most Important Growth Strategy · Adweek
- Summary: CEOs and marketers must agree on what growth means to avoid chasing the wrong metrics. Get your leadership team in a room to define growth for your company…
- Keywords: growth strategy, business alignment, marketing leadership, ammunition, jeremy heilpern, brandweek 2026, cmo strategy, organizational strategy, metrics definition, short-term vs long-term, Alignment, Most
- Source: Adweek — https://adweek.com/brand-marketing/alignment-is-your-most-important-growth-strategy
- Author: Dawn Papandrea
- Published: 2026-09-23T13:53:46+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: growth strategy, business alignment, marketing leadership, ammunition, jeremy heilpern, brandweek 2026, cmo strategy, organizational strategy, metrics definition, short-term vs long-term
## Growth means different things
Revenue, profit, customer count, market share. What growth means depends on your company, role, industry, and even the economy at the moment.

> The truth of the matter is the answer changes by company, role, and industry.
## Big numbers don't guarantee strength
Revenue can rise while margins fall. Customer numbers can grow while retention rates weaken. Sales can spike today while demand disappears tomorrow.

> Revenue can rise while margins fall. Customer numbers can grow while retention rates weaken.
## Redefine growth as durability
Instead of chasing numbers, think of growth as your ability to scale, the quality of what you're building, and whether your business can sustain itself long-term.

> Is the organization actually creating more value? Is it retaining that value?
## The short-term versus long-term tension
CMOs face daily pressure from quarterly reports and sales quotas. The challenge is capturing demand today while building an organization healthy enough to seize tomorrow's opportunities.

> How do you capture the demand that exists right now while ensuring you're building an organization that is healthy?
## Get aligned on three questions
Bring your leadership team together to answer: What does growth look like for us? Where will it come from? What do we need to invest in to create it?

> In order for us to be effective as a client agency team, we need to get all of those kinds of secrets out on the table.
## Key takeaway

Get your leadership team in a room to define growth for your company, decide where it comes from, and commit to what you'll invest in.