How to Drive Change With Strategic Planning

I was reviewing a strategic plan. Beautiful document. Impressive graphics. Detailed implementation timeline. One problem: it was just telling them to do more of what they were already doing. No rethinking. No refinement. No clarity on what would actually move the needle. Just a prettier way of saying, “Keep doing everything.” Strategic plans get built in all kinds of ways — sometimes by the executive director, sometimes by a consultant. But the mistake is when they simply reflect what staff and board already believe should be done. That’s how we end up with long to-do lists — disconnected from real community needs and the leverage points that drive real change. If you're a nonprofit leader, here’s the truth: Your strategic plan could be different. It could be grounded in the most important community needs. It could challenge you to stop doing things that don’t make sense. It could focus your team and resources on the few things that will change everything. When we don’t focus on leverage points, we waste resources, burn out staff, and fall short for the people we’re here to serve. Here’s the process we use: 1. Start with people, not just statistics. Don’t just gather data — gather voices. Sit with the people most affected. Hear what’s working, what’s not, and what’s missing. 2. Define the key leverage points for change. Ask why this problem exists. What are the root causes? Where can pressure on the system actually shift the outcome? 3. Gather ideas from the community on how to address those leverage points. Don’t just diagnose — co-design solutions. The people closest to the problem often know what will actually work. 4. Examine your current programs. Which ones address the real leverage points? Which ones don’t? Be honest. It’s okay to let some things go. 5. Develop strategies that live in your zone of genius. You can’t solve everything. But you can do your part powerfully when strategy aligns with your strengths. 6. Break the 5-year vision into annual goals, quarterly rocks, and assigned actions. Don’t skimp on implementation. Getting this right takes a step-by-step plan with real resources and person-hours. And to do it well, the ED can’t carry it all alone. This is how we helped Santa Clara County redesign its jail reentry strategy — leading to an 11% reduction in recidivism among our target population during the first years of implementation. It’s also the process we used with Cradle Cincinnati, strengthening the work they’re doing to eliminate infant mortality by clarifying the key leverage points for change and further developing community-rooted strategies to address them. Because real transformation doesn’t come from doing more. It comes from doing what matters most, and doing it well. Is your plan a to-do list, or a roadmap to real transformation?

The reason your nonprofit's strategic plan can't seem to ignite your team? The plan doesn’t make their daily work easier. Too many strategic plans are packed with big goals and no clear day-to-day alignment. Staff see them as "extra" rather than essential. Board members review them once and move on. Leadership assumes things are moving forward. But the plan sits on the shelf. Instead, make strategy impossible to ignore by integrating it into the daily work. • Break big goals into 90-day execution cycles. Long-term plans fail when short-term action steps are unclear. Reverse engineer what success looks like in 3 months ->1 month -> 1 week.    • Align KPIs with actual job roles. A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is a measurable goal that tracks progress toward a strategic priority. Each person on your team should see how their work directly aligns within the plan.    • Set a Weekly Focus. Strategy execution can falter when everything is treated as urgent. One approach is to decide on a single priority area or “theme” for the week. Example: Week 1: Donor Communication; Week 2: Program Development; Week 3: Staff Training. A weekly focus doesn’t mean everything else stops, but when a battle of priorities emerges, it helps keep the team on track. • Ensure leadership models follow-through. If executives and board members only talk about the plan once a year, it won’t stick. Progress check-ins should be built into regular meetings. Ask your team what you can do to remove barriers and bring that insight to board meetings.    Strategy isn’t a document. It’s a set of decisions that guide what actually gets done. The more it connects to your daily work, the less likely it is to collect dust. What’s one thing that has helped your organization keep your strategic plan relevant and useful?

Great strategy needs stars. But it only works when the whole team runs the system. This is Phil. Before he arrived, one part of the team dominated the rest of the team and the team had modest success. Then he instituted the triangle offense. It forced the sharing of the ball, putting the skillsets of the players around their best player in the best position to succeed, and integration over self-reliance (the one-on-one mentality) in order to win championships. Phil won 11 championships. When Finance, Ops, and RevOps aren’t truly part of the planning process, strategy becomes siloed, and execution gets political. People follow plans they help create. Here’s how you can get collaboration to show up in the planning cadence in practice: Weekly: Ground-Level Insights Each department logs weekly learnings - what’s working, what’s bottlenecked, what’s forecasted. These mini feedback loops feed the broader plan over time. Planning is no longer an annual fire drill. It’s iterative. Monthly: Rolling Planning Updates Monthly working sessions keep the plan alive. Pipeline changes. Delivery capacity shifts. CAC jumps or drops. Every department shares what’s changing in their world so the plan flexes with reality, not fantasy. Quarterly: Strategic Recalibration This is where leadership + department heads evaluate risk, investment areas, and team capacity. Finance brings cash modeling. RevOps brings revenue forecasts. Ops brings fulfillment feasibility. Everyone has a seat, and everyone speaks up. Annual: Joint Planning Workshops Budgeting. Hiring. Pricing strategy. Tooling. All on the table. But here’s the catch: planning doesn’t start in Finance. It starts cross-functionally. Each function informs the plan from their vantage point. No hidden agendas. Just shared direction. Strategic planning doesn’t live in a spreadsheet. It lives in the conversations you have before the spreadsheet is built.

According to a Bain survey, 65% of initiatives fail because they require significant behavioral change. Making business changes stick long-term is one of the greatest challenges leaders face. Here’s how to overcome this hurdle: 1. Clarify Objectives: Without crystal-clear objectives, your team will struggle to understand the "why" behind the change. Define the goals in simple, actionable terms that resonate with every level of the organization. 2. Reinforce Behavioral Change: Behavioral change isn't a one-time effort. It requires consistent reinforcement. Regularly communicate the importance of new behaviors, and celebrate small wins that align with the change. 3. Support Commitment to the Goal: Leaders must visibly commit to the change. This commitment builds trust and signals to the team that the initiative is not just another passing trend but a core part of the company's future. 4. Ensure Accountability: Accountability is critical. Assign clear ownership for each part of the initiative. Use metrics to track progress, and hold individuals and teams responsible for meeting their targets. 5. Combat the Swirl of the Day Job: One of the biggest obstacles to lasting change is the day-to-day swirl of existing responsibilities. Prioritize the change by integrating it into daily routines and making it part of the fabric of the organization. During a recent corporate carveout, we faced the challenge of transitioning from a legacy culture to a more agile, entrepreneurial mindset. The real hurdle wasn't just setting new strategies but ensuring everyone aligned with the new way of thinking. By focusing on these key areas—especially reinforcing new behaviors and combating the daily distractions—we successfully embedded the changes into the company’s DNA, turning a potential roadblock into a stepping stone for growth. Remember, the real problem often isn't the change itself but our collective unawareness of what truly needs to be done to make it stick. Focus on these key areas to ensure that your business changes become lasting improvements rather than temporary adjustments. #Leadership #ChangeManagement #BusinessTransformation #Carveout

Change is inevitable, but success isn’t. Time and time again I've encountered failures trying to implement true change at my own businesses or seen it with the organizations I've collaborated with. It's often too tough to identify what went wrong when the "change" didn't goes as expected... That said, the Lippitt-Knoster Model can really help an organization or team define a clear path to achieving positive change. This model emphasizes five critical components: 🚀 Vision: Define a clear destination for your new path. 🛠️ Skills: Equip your team with the know-how to navigate it. 🎯 Incentives: Motivate your people to stay the course. 🔧 Resources: Provide the tools, time, and systems needed to keep moving forward. 🗺️ Action Plan: Create a detailed roadmap to reach the destination. Miss any of these, and you risk derailing your efforts: 🔍 Lack of vision = Confusion 🧠 Missing skills = Anxiety 💡 Inadequate incentives = Resistance 🔄 Insufficient resources = Frustration 🚫 No action plan = False Starts Concisely put: 1️⃣ Vision: Define how your change will enhance the organization, the well-being of employees and the experience for customers. 2️⃣ Skills: First, don't be afraid to hire folks smarter than you. Then provide the training necessary for employees to master the skills to accomplish what is needed to make the change happen. 3️⃣ Incentives: Take the time to explain how this change aligns with the professional and personal goals of staff. Ensure they feel invested in and have the opportunity to grow. 4️⃣ Resources: Provide the necessary tools, processes, policies and staffing to make the change possible. 5️⃣ Action Plan: Don't just assume everyone else will understand your vision and will just make it happen. Take the time to break the vision down into a digestible action plan for your team; be sure to listen to your team if they suggest tweaking the action plan so that it's best grounded in reality and pragmatism. Change may be inevitable, but with the right approach, success can be too.

Successful organizational change requires a solid strategy. Here’s how I help organizations make it stick: 👇 1️⃣ 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐩. Where are you now? Where do you need to be? Without a clear understanding, you’re guessing, not leading. 2️⃣ 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲. A change management plan isn’t optional. It aligns teams, removes confusion, and sets the foundation for success. 3️⃣ 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 & 𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬. The biggest mistake? Only listening to supporters. Skeptics reveal blind spots you can’t afford to ignore. 4️⃣ 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬. Success happens in phases. If you don’t focus on critical moments, change loses momentum. 5️⃣ 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞 & 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲. Change is hard—celebrate wins, big or small. Recognition fuels momentum. 6️⃣ 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤. Set new KPIs to track progress. Ensure the change becomes part of your culture, not just a temporary shift. Change isn’t an announcement. It’s a process. And the companies that do it right don’t just survive. They lead.

Senior leaders carry a silent burden: Strategic responsibility. Most strategies don’t fail in the planning phase. They fail in translation. Not just setting vision. But aligning execution. Building leaders. Sustaining momentum. And here’s the insight most overlook: Strategy only works when your people carry it. Not understand it. Not agree with it. Carry it. 🧠 72% of strategic initiatives fail (McKinsey). 🧠 Only 16% of frontline employees understand company strategy (HBR). That’s not a communication issue. It’s a leadership one. If your business strategy isn’t backed by a leadership strategy, it’s a gamble. Want it to stick? Do these 5 things: 1️⃣ Translate goals into behaviors. Don't just say “prioritize innovation.” Clarify what innovation looks like at each level. 📌 Tip: Use behavioral anchors in strategy rollouts; tie each priority to 1–2 observable team behaviors. 2️⃣ Build leaders who can make decisions under pressure. Strategy means nothing if your managers freeze in the fog. 📌 Tip: Run “battle drills” (what if) leadership scenarios, practice decision making with time pressure, tradeoffs, and limited info. 3️⃣ Make ownership obvious. When it's unclear who’s driving what, execution slows. 📌 Tip: Assign one clear owner per initiative and review progress in weekly team check-ins, not quarterly reports. 4️⃣ Incentivize behaviors, not just outcomes. You can’t drive strategic change by measuring the wrong actions. 📌 Tip: Tie performance reviews to behaviors that reflect your priorities, not just deliverables or numbers. 5️⃣ Audit alignment quarterly. Most organizations revisit strategy once a year. That’s too late. 📌 Tip: Schedule quarterly strategy audits to identify misalignment early and recalibrate execution. The best leaders don’t just talk strategy. They engineer execution. Comment Below: How do you make strategy real for your team? ♻ Repost if you want to lead with more clarity and less chaos. I’m Dan 👊 Follow me for daily posts. I talk about confidence, professional growth and personal growth. ➕ Daniel McNamee

The secret to strategy success? Treat it like a service, not a directive. If your team isn’t connecting with your strategy, it’s time to shift your approach. Think of your strategy as something you serve to your employees, not as a top-down instruction. Just like customers, your employees need to feel supported and empowered to take action. Here’s how: Treat Employees Like Customers: Understand and address their needs and concerns as you would with any customer. Make action valuable to them. Understand the Real Employee Experience: Dig deep into the root causes of behaviors and figure out what’s blocking change. Connect Strategy to Behavior: Define the actions that lead to success—and make sure your team understands the link. Think of Strategy as a Service: Great strategy is empowering - give your team the tools they need to succeed. Change the Environment: Create an environment that drives the right behaviors by removing obstacles and adding support systems. Tailor Communication: Speak to your team where they are, both physically and mentally. Show them, don’t just tell them. Recruit Local Leaders: Empower ambassadors who can bring your message to life within their teams. Use Pilots and Replication: Demonstrate the strategy in action to make it real and repeatable. This is how you activate strategy and get results that stick. --------- Be the leader your business needs you to be! 💡 I'm Alex Nesbitt. I help leaders connect strategy with action. PS. If you like this kind of thinking - check out my masterclass https://lnkd.in/gPteyMwD 🚀🎯

📍 Is your organization prepared to navigate change, or is it stuck in the past? 📍 How can you lead your team through the chaos of transformation & emerge stronger than ever? 📍 What frameworks can help you, as a CEO, successfully drive change & ensure long-term success? In today’s fast-paced business world, change is inevitable. As a CEO, leading your organization through change isn’t just a necessity—it’s a skill. Understanding and effectively applying change management models can make all the difference between a successful transition & a challenging one. Let’s dive into four powerful frameworks that can guide you as you lead your company through transformation. 1. McKinsey’s 7S Framework It focuses on aligning seven key elements to ensure organizational success during change: Strategy, Structure, Systems, Shared Values, Skills, Style, & Staff. As a CEO, you must ensure that all these elements are aligned to drive change effectively. A shift in one area—such as strategy or structure—can have ripple effects across others, so it’s crucial to evaluate each of these components before, during, and after implementing change. 2. Kotter’s 8-Step Model John Kotter’s renowned 8-step model provides a detailed roadmap for leading change, from creating urgency to anchoring new practices in the culture. The eight steps include: Create a sense of urgency Build a guiding coalition Form a strategic vision Enlist a volunteer army Enable action by removing barriers Generate short-term wins Sustain acceleration Institute change Kotter’s approach is designed to keep momentum going, ensuring that change becomes a long-term part of the organization’s culture. 3. Satir Change Model The Satir Change Model emphasizes the emotional and psychological journey that individuals go through during change. It consists of five stages: Late Status Quo Resistance Chaos Integration New Status Quo This model highlights that resistance is a natural part of the process, and understanding the emotional dynamics of your team is critical to success. As a CEO, your leadership should help guide your team through these stages, offering support and ensuring a smooth transition to the new normal. 4. Bridges’ Transition Model William Bridges’ model focuses on the emotional transition individuals experience when change occurs. The model breaks down the process into three phases: Ending, Losing, and Letting Go The Neutral Zone The New Beginning Bridges emphasizes that the true transition occurs in the emotional realm, not just the structural one. As a CEO, fostering an environment of support during these phases helps individuals navigate change with confidence and clarity. By leveraging these four powerful change management models, you can guide your organization through transformation with confidence and success. Keep these frameworks in mind as you steer your organization toward the future!