Having a “game plan” in business means strategic planning and it’s an absolute must for success. Whether you’re an executive team of one or twenty, you’re responsible for creating and executing your teams through a winning strategy. Much like your business plan outline operating approaches to get the financial results your business needs, so is your strategic planning a road map to getting the success in those business objectives.

Executives oftentimes try to lead these planning sessions. STOP! Find a facilitator who can so that you and your leadership team can participate without judgement and select participants who are creative and operationally purposeful. Conduct a basic S.W.O.T by identifying your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with people from throughout the company. You can’t be the facilitator and participate. Get someone to lead the planning session so that you can focus on the input.

1. Start by using the Discipline of Market Leaders book to define what you are good at; what is our core competency?  

• Operational excellence
• Customization
• Innovation

2. Use the “Hedgehog Model” to define what you are passionate about, what you can do better than anyone else, and what your key growth metrics are: (Book Good to Great)

• What are we passionate about?
• What can we consistently do better than anyone else?
• What key metrics drives your success?

3. Use the Profit from the Core model to identify growth alternatives and then prioritize them:

• What are the growth alternatives that will help you reach your Hedgehog Concept?
• What is the priority of each alternative?

Be Backable. How do you expect people to follow your vision if you’re not passionate about it. The most exceptional strategies are those that are backable.