Not too long ago, I facilitated a comprehensive planning session for a private company whose advisory board I serve on. As I stepped back, I found myself looking at their business through the same lens I use for the bank, for boards I’ve served on, and for organizations I’ve helped lead.
There’s a discipline to strategic thinking that doesn’t happen by accident. It took real work just to get a clean handle on the business. I typically start with a framework—something like the Baldrige model—to create a working structure. From there, I ask a lot of questions tied to performance.
I believe nothing happens without a sale. So we move from sales, to service, to support, and then to the systems that wrap around all of it. We talk about the North Star—what winning actually looks like. If we hit the objectives, what should be true by the end of the year? We talk about constraints. We talk about risk. We talk about trade-offs—what we won’t do.
All of that gets distilled into a succinct, realistic strategy document meant to live throughout the year.
But here’s the truth: the value isn’t in the planning. It’s in the execution.
That’s where things usually fall apart. Especially in private businesses. There’s no public market holding them immediately accountable. Distraction doesn’t get punished right away. The pain shows up later—often as slow cash flow erosion. A slow burn. A quiet disconnect between decisions and outcomes.
The real work is helping leaders connect decisions to both pain and progress. That’s where clarity lives. And I’m grateful I get to think that way, see that way, and help others do the same.