When I work with executive teams, the greatest challenges almost always come back to people, even when the strategy and process are solid. Over and over, I see that how individuals show up for each other determines the speed, the trust, and the overall health of the team. One framework that consistently makes a meaningful difference is Patrick Lencioni’s Ideal Team Player model: Humble, Hungry and Smart.
The most strategic advantage you have right now is your willingness to be wrong. This is the new paradox of leadership. We’ve all been trained to believe that the right decision requires perfect information, yet volatility has stripped that certainty away. Markets shift overnight, teams restructure faster than the org chart, and data seems to contradict itself weekly. The leaders who win aren’t the ones chasing certainty. They are the ones who have mastered the art of deciding in the dark.
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.
Imagine a world where leaders, instead of operating from a place of burnout and exhaustion, lead with boundless energy, sharp focus, and infectious optimism. A world where well-being isn't just a fringe benefit, but the jet fuel powering effective leadership. This isn't a utopian fantasy, it's the future of high-performing teams, and it starts with you...
In the world of business growth, the Scaling Up framework pinpoints four critical decisions—People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash—to propel companies towards sustainable success. Let’s shed light on a pivotal CASH exercise known as the Power of One, specifically in the context of pricing strategies to boost cash flow.
Scaling up a business requires a clear vision, strategic planning, and effective execution. Execution involves a complex interplay of people, tasks, and deadlines. It requires meticulous planning, coordination, and monitoring.
The Who, What, When exercise simplifies this process by providing a structured framework for defining, assigning, and tracking tasks.
As a strategic business coach, I often see businesses that have great strategies but struggle to execute them. The book, Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, is a great resource for any business leader who wants to improve their ability to execute their strategies. We’ll focus our attention on Part II of the book: The Seven Essential Behaviors of Leaders so we can evaluate how well we, as leaders, are exhibiting these behaviors needed to execute our strategies effectively.
Jim Collins, author, researcher, speaker, and consultant compiled his life’s work into one strategic tool, THE MAP. Each component of this tool walks us through the inputs to reach the three desired outputs of Superior Results, Distinctive Impact, and Lasting Endurance. We can all agree that leading a company that is excelling financially, making an impact, and leaving a long-term legacy is the definition of winning.
Let’s go through THE MAP to find out how we can achieve these goal worthy results and win...
