Every executive team I coach works hard to align on strategy. They debate priorities, refine ROCKS (quarterly priorities), and finally walk out of the room confident they’ve nailed it.
Yet a few months in, progress feels uneven. Teams are stuck in old habits. Projects stall. Strategy looks great on paper, but it isn’t fully alive in day-to-day work.
When growth slows, most leaders look outside for answers—market conditions, competition, talent shortages. But in my coaching work with executive teams, I see a different pattern. More often than not, the bottleneck isn’t out there. It’s in the leadership team itself.
In our always-on world, disconnection feels counter-intuitive. Leaders often believe constant presence equals constant impact. We're wired to think "always on" means "always productive." But what if this mindset is actually holding you and your leadership team back?
The truth is, genuine disconnection is a strategic necessity. It's the deliberate act that unlocks clarity, fuels innovation, and builds a more autonomous, resilient team.
Recently, I had a profound conversation with Brian Wish on his podcast, the "One Away Show". We explored the power of a single pivotal moment that can completely alter the trajectory of your life. At the heart of my story is the decision to step away from a long-standing and high-profile CEO role that had become central to my identity. This is deeply relevant to any leader who must find the courage and clarity to make a choice which could transform the entire course of their company or career.
Apple, REI, Walt Disney, Nordstrom, Starbucks…
When you walk into any of these businesses you immediately feel their company culture. It hits you the moment you step inside. It’s in the way their team members greet you, their level of service and the subtle behaviors you might not even notice.
All of these companies take their cultures seriously. They make trust, transparency, respect and pride all non-negotiable, and these qualities get mirrored in their customer-facing interactions.
As we enter 2018 and all the promise a fresh year brings, it’s the perfect time for leaders to develop their company’s Vivid Vision.
What’s a Vivid Vision? Cameron Herold, the former COO of 1-800-Got-Junk who increased revenues from $2 million to $105 million in 6 years, describes it in his book Double Double. It’s painting a picture of what your business will look, feel and act like three years down the road. It’s not about how you will get there with defined goals and metrics — we’ll save that for the strategic planning sessions with your leadership team. It’s imagining where you want your company to be in three years. To communicate this picture, you’ll need to envision success and provide ample details, using expressive language.
One of the biggest — and most common — pitfalls in business is a lack of accountability. You can have a rock-solid strategic plan with clear areas of responsibility and measurable metrics, but if you don’t hold each other accountable, you won’t reach your goals.
If that sounds like your team, you’re not alone. I uncover accountability issues in many of the teams I work with, including some who are otherwise highly functional. The good news: It’s a relatively easy fix if you’re not afraid to say “the buck stops here”, “you can’t blame others” or “it’s your issue.”
What’s the greatest differentiator when it comes to achieving your company’s ambitious growth goals? There’s no question: It’s a tightly aligned, high-performing leadership team. You can have the most eloquent vision statement and a well thought-out strategic plan to back it up, but if you don’t have a strong team to execute, you won’t reach your goals.
Steve Jobs said, “Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.” I couldn’t agree more.
Are you going to reach your 2017 growth targets? Were you and your team focused on all the right actions this year to meet your goals? Did you stick to your plan? Was it really a plan or just a long to-do list?
The 4th Quarter of 2017 is fast approaching. What does success look like in 2018? 20% annual growth, 10% increase in margins, 2 times cash flow, double the number of “A” player employees, record number of customer acquisitions and retention and additional new markets and products/services? What can you do now to set yourself up to achieve those goals in 2018.
