Strategic Vision Setting

I led a $350M org through a strategic planning session - after just 2 hrs the CEO called it a "walk-off home run". Here's my exact framework for creating rapid alignment and vision: 1. The Trust Foundation (20 mins) First, let the room breathe. Watch. Listen. Then, ask each leader to share one childhood challenge they overcame. Why? Because vulnerability creates humanity, and humanity creates trust. When someone shares about their parents' divorce or getting cut from a team, defenses drop naturally. 2. The Vision Journey (30 mins) Create space for deep thinking: - Dim the lights - Play soft instrumental music (I use Dwell on Spotify) - Guide them through a day-in-the-life meditation set 5 years in the future Pro tip: Most leadership teams spend 95% of their time in the daily battle. Few step back to truly envision the future. At $350M scale, this vision gap costs millions. 3. Personal Expression (60 mins) Transform thoughts into tangible vision: - Silent journaling period - Create visual representations on flip charts - Share personal stories of their envisioned future 4. Collective Alignment (10 mins) Bring it home: - Synthesize individual visions - Craft collective bullet points - Write a unified vision paragraph - - - By the end, the team didn’t just have a vision. They had their vision, one that was personal, connected, and inspiring. For the first time, the company’s future wasn’t just a business strategy. It was a shared journey everyone felt deeply invested in. 🔑 The Magic Ingredient: It's not just about the business vision. By connecting personal futures with company direction, you create authentic alignment that drives real change. 💡 Key Learning: Most strategic planning fails because it jumps straight to strategy. But vision without trust is just words on a page. Trust without vision is just a nice conversation. Magic happens when you build both!

Here’s one of the most popular and least effective management methods: a strategy template that starts with a company’s Vision and Mission, then cascades down to Strategies and Objectives. It has all kinds of problems, such as containing no reference to customers’ priorities or your competitive strengths (these should be foundational!). It often produces vague, generic results that avoid making difficult choices. But let’s focus here just on the Vision aspect. Vision can actually be quite useful, if framed properly. Vision provides guidance for company priorities through context and specificity. It should not be like the one from the restaurant chain Chipotle: “We believe that food has the power to change the world.” Nice, but meaningless. A vision should be of how the world will look in the somewhat long-term future and what your company’s place could be in it. See, for example, this short video that United Rentals, a $14 billion equipment-rental company, produced. It inspires, but it is also quite tangible and relatable to what the company does. You may not have the resources UR had to create such a slick video (although, with AI-generated video, the cost and skill barriers are tumbling fast). But you can lay out in words (perhaps complemented by AI-generated images) how the world will look in 10 years in ways that are relevant to your industry, and what role your firm can play in that time period. A useful vision can sketch the future competitive context and why you will have a commanding position. Certainly it can have public spirit (a future vision based on customer exploitation is neither inspiring nor sustainable!). However, it’s perfectly fine to show why your shareholders should be delighted with these outcomes. Such a vision then guides nearer-term strategic choices, including the creation of new capabilities, relationships, or business models. In the fray of constantly changing industry and competitive dynamics, it provides a North Star to guide where your efforts head. It also ensures that you invest in long-term projects alongside the shorter-term imperatives which typically dominate day-to-day thinking. Your vision doesn’t need to change the world. But it will likely alter your industry and company. Clear and specific visions show the direction of the road even while you give most of your attention to the traffic that surrounds you.

As a CMO, my days are full of decisions that drive near-term performance, from feeding the content machine to campaign execution and daily executive asks coming in from around the globe. What gets squeezed isn’t just time. It’s altitude. Perspective. The space to step back and see what still needs building. This tension between now and next isn’t just something I see in the data. It’s something I experience every day. Over time, I’ve had to approach it with more intention and focus. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way: 1️⃣ Long-term priorities don’t show up on your calendar. You have to put them there. We know what our mission-critical priorities are – they are written on our to-do lists, scribbled on whiteboards, prominently featured in our strategy decks. But when everything is urgent, the future is the first thing to get pushed aside. I’ve learned that I need to deliberately carve out time for myself and for my team to think beyond the quarter. This means challenging whether my presence is needed in meetings, saying no by strategically framing where I need to focus and scheduling non-negotiable blocks in my calendar to intentionally advance what matters most. 2️⃣ You don’t need to slow down, but you do need to zoom out. Momentum is good. But momentum without perspective creates risk. And while I have little tolerance for overly complex processes, endless socialization, or decision paralysis, in our effort to be fast to market, it’s easy to lose the forest for the trees. I’ve learned to ask: “are we making the right calls or just moving quickly?” We tend to dive right into the what and the how, but we need to continually come back to the why.   3️⃣ Ambition needs execution. A long-term strategy is only as strong as the steps you take now … and the ones you deliberately take throughout your journey to turn a strategic vision into reality. This is where I see things fall apart. The lack of infrastructure, measurable goals, clear incentives and shared ownership among a leadership team to get there. No matter how we might spin it, if future priorities aren’t broken into near-term actions, they stay aspirational. These tensions run through this year’s CEO Agenda, a collaboration between Oliver Wyman Forum and NYSE. Based on insights from 165 sitting CEOs, it’s an insightful read for any executive looking to make meaningful change. See it in black and white here: https://owy.mn/3FpWX1Q

Still proud of your 5-year plan? The market thanks you for the head start There’s a certain pride CEOs feel when they unveil a gleaming 5-year plan. The mission statements. The strategic pillars. The color-coded timelines stretching proudly into the future. It looks beautiful. It sounds brilliant. It feels powerful. & then reality shows up... Because in fast-moving industries, most 5-year plans have a shelf life shorter than unrefrigerated sushi. The truth? 👇 Read it twice. If your strategy depends on a 5-year plan, you're planning for a world that won’t exist anymore by the time you get there. 📚 McKinsey research on agile organizations shows that adaptive, rolling planning cycles (90-day, 180-day adjustments) beat rigid 5-year plans in fast-moving industries—in growth, resilience, & innovation output. Why? Because reality doesn’t ask for your permission before it changes the rules. New competitors. New technologies. New customer behaviors. If you’re still quoting your 5-year plan while the world shifts under your feet, you’re not leading—you’re reciting ancient history while the walls collapse. 📈 Why the 5-year plan fantasy persists • It feels safe. "At least we know where we're going!" • It impresses boards. "Look at this strategic vision! It's so detailed!" • It sells stability. "Investors love predictability, right?" But the world doesn’t love your predictability. It exploits it. Because while you’re sticking to the script, the market is rewriting the play. 🛡️ What should you do 1. Set a North Star—not a railroad track Define the ultimate direction. Stay flexible on how you get there. Adapt the route without losing the mission. 2. Use rolling planning—not rolling dice Shift from fixed forecasts to dynamic adjustments. Review, adapt, recalibrate—quarterly, not quinquennially. 3. Plan for disruption—not stability Assume the market will change faster than you want. Build companies that can surf the waves, not drown in them. 4. Prioritize decision velocity over perfect forecasting McKinsey research shows companies with faster decision cycles outperform slow, perfectly planned companies by 12x in growth rates. 5. Invest in strategic optionality—not strategic perfection Optionality means having moves ready: new markets, new partnerships—BEFORE you need them. 6. Build teams that can re-plan mid-battle—not just execute orders Agility isn’t just a system. It’s a muscle your people must flex under real pressure. 7. Measure success by adaptability, not predictability Ask: How fast did we pivot when the data changed? How strong was the response, not just the plan? ➡️ One brutal reminder Long-term vision without short-term adaptation is corporate suicide on a time delay. You won’t even hear the explosion until it’s too late. By the time you realize your glorious 5-year plan is obsolete, the market will have handed your competitors the pen to write the next chapter. Plan accordingly—or get planned around. #Leadership #Strategy

Most CEOs think they need a clear vision before they start transforming the organization. On paper, it sounds logical: Define the vision -> Set the strategy -> Then transform the organization. In reality, it rarely works that way. Waiting for a fully formed vision often leads to delay, overthinking, and safe, generic statements that change nothing. Meanwhile, the organization drifts. What happens in reality is: ➤ Vision is not just something you define upfront. ➤ It is something you shape through transformation. Strong CEOs do not wait for perfect clarity. They move with directional conviction and refine as they go. 💫 While the organization evolves, so does the vision: ↳ When a new structure slows things down instead of speeding them up ↳ When leaders struggle to operate in the new way ↳ When customers respond differently than expected So you can see there are not about execution, but actually the feedback on the vision itself. And that’s the part many leaders miss, because they treat vision as fixed, and transformation as execution. 💥 But vision and transformation are inseparable. → You are not rolling out a vision. → You are continuously shaping it through action. Importantly, you need clarity on three things: 1️⃣. What you are moving away from. If the past is not clearly rejected, it will quietly persist. 2️⃣. What you will not compromise Every transformation is built on trade-offs. If these are unclear, decisions become inconsistent. 3️⃣. Who your leaders need to become. If leadership behaviour does not change, the organization will not either. So hear reality in mind: ➤ Vision in transformation is not a fixed statement at the beginning. ➤ It is a living construct that becomes sharper, more credible, and more actionable as the organization changes. And that is where many transformations fail: 1) Leaders either lock the vision too early and force-fit reality into it. 2) Or keep it so vague that it never drives real change. The work is not choosing one, but you need to hold direction steady while allowing the vision to evolve. That is the discipline. Catherine 📬 C-suite insights: https://lnkd.in/g-AD5aEP © 2026 Catherine Li-Yunxia. All rights reserved.

"You are not strategic enough" is a phrase that has blocked many talented Product Managers from career advancement and meaningful participation in company vision discussions. Through coaching numerous teams, I've observed that this perception typically stems from two fundamental challenges: 1. The inability to connect daily work to the broader company vision and strategy. 2. Treating the market as static rather than dynamic. These challenges are entirely solvable. Here's an approach to strengthening your strategic backbone: 1. Connect Work to Company Vision - Create clear line-of-sight documents showing how features ladder up to company goals. - Develop a habit of prefacing project updates with strategic context (e.g., which OKR will be impacted and how). - Regularly review product roadmaps against the company's 3-5 year vision. 2. Develop a Dynamic Market Understanding - Establish systematic market monitoring routines, focusing on technology changes, competitive dynamics, and evolution of complementary products and services. - Build relationships with customers to understand evolving needs. Focus on what is changing from interaction to interaction. - Create scenario planning exercises for different market possibilities. 3. Shift Focus from Features to Outcomes - Reframe your roadmap to emphasize customer benefits over functionality. - Practice second-order thinking ("If we succeed, what happens next?"). 4. Build Strategic Habits - Zoom out before diving into the details. What is the big picture, and how does what you work on fit into it? - Ask yourself regularly: "How does this align with our company's goals?" - Read broadly outside your domain to spot cross-industry patterns. Being strategic isn't about your title—it's about how you think, prioritize, and frame your work. The key is consistency in applying these practices. Start small by implementing one or two approaches, then gradually expand your strategic toolkit. Over time, you'll naturally think and communicate more strategically, opening doors to greater influence and responsibility within your organization. #productmanagement #productstrategy #productleadership

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗴𝗼 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻. "We need to hit $50M in revenue, reduce churn by 5%, and launch three new features." The CEO clicked to the next slide, proud of their "strategic plan" for next year. I watched the executive team nod in agreement. We had a problem. They'd just spent two days creating a very detailed map of their current location—but they had no idea where they were trying to go. This happens more often than you'd think. Executive teams confuse operational targets with strategic direction. They set metrics, allocate budgets, and call it strategy. But here's what's missing: 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼? Without a clear strategic vision, those metrics become meaningless. You're tracking progress toward... what exactly? You end up chasing every shiny opportunity that comes along because you have no north star to guide decisions. I've watched this play out countless times. Teams hit their numbers but find themselves further from where they thought they wanted to be. They're efficient at executing tactics but have no coherent strategy driving those tactics. They think they're aligned but ... it's just chaos. Real strategic planning isn't about setting targets. It's about answering fundamental questions: • What market position are we trying to achieve? • What are the 2-3 big bets we're making to get there? • How will we know if we're on the right path? • What will we say no to in order to say yes to our strategy?    The teams that get this right don't just perform better—they're aligned. When everyone understands the destination, individual decisions become easier. Budget conversations become strategic conversations. Your executive team stops pulling in different directions. Q4 is actually the perfect time for this work. You have enough data from this year to be realistic about what's possible, but enough time before budget season to let strategy drive your financial planning instead of the other way around. And here's what I've learned: most executive teams can't facilitate this conversation themselves. You're too close to your own assumptions, too invested in your current approach. The most powerful strategic planning happens when someone outside the system helps you see what you can't see—and asks the questions you're not asking. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴?

Strategic planning is dead. It stopped working when markets started moving faster than your yearly plan could keep up. Yet leadership teams still retreat to offsite hotels every January. Fill out templates. Set three-year visions. Print the slides. Return to the same reality they left. I've watched organizations confuse having a plan with having a strategy. They are not the same thing. I replaced traditional strategic planning with something built for a world that doesn't hold still-Design Strategy. The Old Way (Strategic Planning): → Define a vision (usually a repackaged version of last year's) → Run a SWOT or competitive analysis (a snapshot of a market that won't exist by Q3) → Set five-year goals (in an environment that will be unrecognizable in 18 months) → Cascade objectives down the org chart (where they lose meaning by the third layer) → Review progress quarterly (by which time the assumptions have already expired) → Result: A strategy deck that's outdated before it's printed, and a team executing a plan nobody believes in Design Strategy (New Way) Design Strategy applies design thinking directly to how you build and evolve your business model. It moves on five axes: Customer — Who are you actually helping for, and what does their world look like afterwards? Value Creation — How does your organization uniquely generate value, and for whom does that value actually matter? Strategic Learning — What is the smallest version of your strategic bet you can test before committing, and what does it teach you? Strategic Choice Commitment — Which bets are you moving forward based on the evidence, and what does saying yes here force you to say no to? Evolution — How does your strategy adapt in real time as signals emerge from the market? The output isn't a plan. It's a living system: one that gets smarter every time it touches reality. Consider what Apple Inc. actually did when Steve Jobs came back in 1997. The company was struggling. The usual move would’ve been to chase market share, compete on specs, and add more products. He went the other way. He started with the customer, not the product. Small, disciplined bets: iMac, iTunes, iPod. Each showed Apple how people commit to a life-centered ecosystem. The iPhone was the natural result. Within a decade, Apple became the most valuable company in the world. The organizations that win from here aren't the ones with the most detailed roadmaps. They're the ones that treat strategy as a design problem: iterative, human-centered, and built to evolve. Strategic planning describes where you intend to go. Design Strategy builds your ability to find the way. One assumes the future is knowable. The other prepares you for the future you can't see coming. What is one assumption sitting inside your current strategy that you've never actually tested?

67% of strategic plans fail due to poor execution. Not poor ideas. Not lack of ambition. The real breakdown? ➟ No alignment.  ➟ No ownership.  ➟ No clarity. If you're still running strategy off a vision doc and a few KPIs, you're flying blind. Here’s how to build a strategic plan that actually gets executed. 1. Define the Vision & Mission ↳ It sets the true north. ↳ Use systems thinking to map long-term impact. 2. Analyze the Current State ↳ You can’t fix what you can’t see. ↳ Involve cross-functional teams to gain real insight. 3. Set Strategic Objectives ↳ Vague goals stall execution. ↳ Only commit to what you can measure. 4. Develop a Tactical Plan ↳ Strategy dies without action steps. ↳ Kill stalled work early. Protect focus. 5. Implement the Plan ↳ Execution = momentum + visibility. ↳ Make metrics public and track weekly. 6. Review and Adapt ↳ Static plans break in dynamic markets. ↳ Act on fewer metrics, but act deeply. 7. Activate Cross-Functional Alignment ↳ Silos = strategy death. ↳ Give each team one “North Star” metric. 8. Build Strategy Into Culture  ↳ Strategy isn’t a deck, it’s daily behavior. ↳ Reinforce alignment every quarter. Because a strategy that isn’t owned, aligned, and lived daily,  won’t survive the real world. ♻️ Repost to help more teams escape strategy theater. 🔔 Follow Nadir Ali for insights on Strategy, Leadership & Productivity.

Strategic Foresight What gives some people real leverage in career, business, and life? Strategic foresight. The ability to look 5, 10, or 20 years ahead and position deliberately. These are not casual questions: Where will you be career-wise? Financially? Spiritually? In your relationships? Academically? They shape today’s decisions. Just as companies run on vision, mission, and long-term plans, individuals should too. This is how successful entrepreneurs win. They read trends, study data, project outcomes, and build early. Dangote did exactly this. He understood that politics and structure would limit local refining and positioned himself to serve over 220 million people. At that scale, ₦1 per person per hour changes everything. That isn’t luck. It’s intentional strategic foresight. Where are you positioning yourself for the next 5,10 years? What decisions are you making today to build that future? #Leadership #CareerGrowth #Personalbrandcoach #StrategicForesight #Entrepreneurship #Vision #SuccessMindset #FuturePlanning