Focus on Impact

May 23, 2023 | Strategic Planning

I always find it interesting that, regardless of industry, the challenges facing the executives I work with come in waves of similar issues. As I write this, several clients are coming to the end of their fiscal year. As a result, they’re reassessing budgets, strategic initiatives, productivity, profitability, and the departure of a key team member or two. Needless to say, times are - again - very busy and challenging for them. To help them navigate these challenges and debate their next...

From Great Ideas to Implementation

Mar 28, 2023 | Strategic Planning

After months of conducting industry research, several work sessions, debates, conversations, and meetings with industry leaders as well as with front-line team members, a client’s new strategic plan is complete. They’ve received board approval. They’ve just completed a leadership summit in which they shared their new plan with the rest of the management team and received wide support for the plan. With this much momentum and energy, why did the CEO ask, “What now? What should we do next?” From...

Culture Eats Strategy for…an Appetizer

Jan 24, 2023 | Strategic Planning

We’ve all heard Peter Drucker's saying, “Culture eats strategy for lunch [or breakfast].” I am, of course, not going to disagree with that statement. However, given the work world today, it’s not enough. Culture doesn’t just eat strategy for breakfast or lunch. Culture eats strategy as an appetizer. Then it eats strategy for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, a snack, etc. A poor company culture will eat up and spit out your organization if its cultural framework, strategic priorities, and...

Don’t Create a Laundry List. Create a Strategic Plan

Dec 13, 2022 | Strategic Planning

It happens frequently. It happens with C-Suite executives as well as with mid-level managers. It happens when the excitement of DOING things to transform the organization takes hold. ‘It’ is when the strategic planning team focuses more on what they’re going to DO instead of what they want to ACHIEVE. It is when they stop thinking strategically. It causes teams to create laundry lists instead of strategic plans. …when the strategic planning team focuses more on what they’re going to DO instead...

Stop Boring Strategic Plan Updates

Nov 22, 2022 | Strategic Planning

An association executive director asked during a recent coaching conversation, “Am I doing something wrong, or why are the strategic plan review meetings I hold with my senior staff so boring? My Director of Operations said yesterday, ‘It feels as if all we’re doing is tracking stuff so we can mark it off this master plan.’ You know what? She’s right. That’s exactly what it feels like.” Well I wish I could say I was stunned by his revelation, but I wasn’t. Because, tracking strategic plans...