One of the important parts of SBS Pillar No. 2 (Strategy) is the way you lead your business through the strategic planning process. We have been executing a strategic planning method for about 13 years now, never missing a quarterly planning offsite during all that time. Why? Because the quarterly offsite planning is the key link between long-term strategy and day-to-day execution.
Today, my executive team and I kick off our two-day quarterly offsite meeting. We’ve met more than 50 consecutive quarters now. I love these meetings because we come out with more clarity and confidence than we had going in, without exception. I also love them because we debate constructively, work through tough issues and, in the process, build a stronger team.
Our method of strategy planning is a blend of several schools of thought, including Verne Harnish (see his book, “Scaling up”), Jim Collins, Michael Gerber, and my friend Tyler Norton. All of these experts have given us valuable pieces of the puzzle we’ve put together to create our own strategy planning method. We’ve tweaked it over the years as we’ve grown and our needs have adapted. But the basic process is still the same. And, our quarterly offsite planning is the key meeting that helps us put it all together.
I can’t wait to get together with my team today to do this important planning. I know we’ll produce great clarity, confidence, and teamwork as we work through the process.
SBS Idea of the Day: If you’re lacking a strategy planning process and you have more than six or eight employees, you need to get one in place. The confidence and alignment you create will be invaluable. We teach elite entrepreneurs how to do this in the Elite Forum. Check it out at eliteforum.keap.com.
