How to Conduct a Successful Strategy Session

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!

I've sat in 2,000+ leadership meetings. And I can tell you exactly why most of them fail. But more importantly - I can show you how the best ones generate $100K+ in value in under 90 minutes. The framework that changes everything: 1. The 5-Minute Segue Slide • First 5 minutes: break the ice 🧊 • Have a little fun- what did everyone have for breakfast? • Set the tone for the meeting. 2. The 5-Minute Scorecard Sprint • Choose 3-5 important numbers to track. • Report on them- off track/on track. • Off track = issue. Talk about it. Solve it. 3. The 5-Minute Rock Report • Choose 1-3 90-day priorities for team members. • Report on them- off/track/on track. • Off track = issue. Talk about it. Solve it. 4. The 5-Minute Headliner • First 5 minutes: Get updates from the team. • Out-of-office reminders. Quick Client wins. Company-wide reminders. • No frills, just updates. 5. The 5-Minute To-Do Tally • To-Dos are commitments. • Hold your team accountable and get it done. • Success looks like 90% to-do completion each week. 6. The 60-Minute Issues Solving Session • This is the meaty part. • Pick the MOST important company issue. • Talk about it. Find the root. Solve it. • "Solved" looks like an actionable to-do (that fixes the issue for GOOD.) 7. Conclude • Recap your to-dos. • Check in with the team on morale. • Rate the effectiveness of the meeting 1-10. • Success is 10s across the board (enthusiastically from every team member.) Real-world example: → Sales team couldn't close deals fast enough → Used this framework → Found bottleneck in proposal process → Simplified approvals → Result: Closed $180K deal in 48 hours instead of 2 weeks The secret? This isn't just about meeting efficiency. It's about solving issues for the greater good of the org. Remember: Every minute in a meeting costs money. Make those minutes generate money instead. -- Want more frameworks like this? ✉️ Subscribe to my newsletter for exclusive insights: https://lnkd.in/gGxR5nFU ♻️ Reshare to help an entrepreneurial leader save time and money

I never found a good guide on how to run a strategic session. So, we created our own at Fuel. When I share how we do it, many founders are often impressed. We usually spend 2 days on it, but this time we went outside the city. No distractions, just focus. We had two main goals: 1/ Run a strategic session. 2/ Spend quality time together. Since we’re a fully remote team, this time is super valuable. Honestly, the best moments—our dinners, talks, laughs—that’s when the real connection happens. Here’s our 6-step playbook for running strategic sessions at Fuel: 🟢 Before the session 1️⃣ CEO’s Deck: I send out a deck 2-3 weeks ahead. It includes our long-term goals (5-10 years), short-term tactics (1-3 years), and win goals for the next year. I focus on key areas: customers (NPS, retention, etc.), finance (valuation, revenue, fundraising), and sales & marketing. I also include where we are now in each area, along with a list of big questions we need to answer as a team. 2️⃣ Exec Team Decks: Each exec shares their own deck. These cover what we’ve learned from past projects (scale or stop?), analysis of key metrics (plan vs. actual), and decisions we need to make. They also list what info or data they need from each other. 🟢 During the session 3️⃣ Day 1: We go through all the presentations, brainstorming ideas, projects, and decisions. We also make a list of all crazy ideas (without judgements) in marketing, sales, and product. 4️⃣ Day 2: We prioritize those ideas based on how much effort they need vs. the value they bring. We mark each one as High/Medium/Low input/output. Then we add timelines, risks, who’s responsible, and which team members are involved. 🟢 After the session 5️⃣ Two weeks later: We spend the next two weeks finalizing projects, adding details like what resources we need (new hires, budgets) and what outcomes we expect. 6️⃣ Execs & Financial Manager: The execs share their finalized projects with our financial manager, who updates our financial plan. We then review everything together — how the projects will impact our key metrics: revenue, retention, gross profit margin, logos, runway, burn rate, etc. If we’re not happy with the results, we adjust the projects and try different financial scenarios. 🔵 Tips: ▪ Keep decks under 15 slides. Less is more. ▪ Send CEO deck 2-3 weeks ahead for better team focus. ▪ Save prep time with quarterly sessions and an always-updated metrics dashboard. And planning is just the start. We do weekly plan vs. actual analysis to make sure we’re staying on course. Finally, the most crucial piece of the puzzle: the great team! Yaroslav Azhnyuk Dariya Vyshnevska Oleksandr Riabukha Christy Ilkovych Alina Hura Roman Lobas