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Crafting the overarching strategy for your organization is no small task. Your mission and vision are significant, so translating them to a comprehensive short- and long-term strategy is challenging. There is fear of missed opportunities, of not implementing solutions for low-hanging revenue or impact up shots, and a general desire to ensure your strategy doesn’t exclude critical functions that drive business performance.

Strategic plans should be the backstop to quell these fears, but they often come up short. At their best, strategic plans can be detailed road maps for success that are as focused on high-impact strategies as they are on short-term tactics. Unfortunately, strategic plans usually end up being placed on shelves—50-page printed PowerPoint decks with research you already knew and ideas that have no implementation plan. They might provide directional guardrails, but usually don’t include strategies to maximize the performance metrics you care about most.

Find a good partner.

Getting outside analysis and perspective on your business is valuable. It takes trust and vulnerability, but walking through this process with a team that can shake off bias and look at your business objectively is critical. A partner experienced in the world of strategy will be able to see beyond obstacles and distractions to recommend bold strategies.

Get immersed and share, share, share!

Most strategic plans start off with some form of a discovery meeting where leadership shares pertinent information with a facilitator or a strategic planning partner. This is helpful, but only the start. Discovery meetings should cover a wide range of topics beyond your history and short-term goals. A good partner will ask hard questions, and at times, force alignment within a healthy leadership team.

Insist on research insights you don’t already know.

Too often, consultants regurgitate information you already had or already know. Identifying unknown insights or those that lead to innovative thinking are much more valuable. Find a research partner who contributes more than the first few pages of Google results.

Generate strategies that go big.

Within typical strategic plans, most “strategies” are simply areas the organization should focus on, or obvious ideas that needed executed. Effective strategic plans include bold strategies that are tethered to revenue or impact—ideas that move the needle and make way for market share capture, new customers, or expanded impact to one’s mission. When it comes to crafting strategies, dream big.

Include tie backs and projections.

The biggest missing piece to most strategic plans is the execution road map. Consultants are notorious for executing light research, presenting new strategies and ideas, and packaging it up in a PowerPoint. That approach is not enough. Effective strategic plans have detailed timing and priority projections, assignments for who should own and execute strategies, and confirmation that each strategy is affordable and financially responsible. Without this important step, business leaders are left to figure out implementation and execution of strategies over the short and long term.

By following these tips, your organization will experience the benefit of a roadmap that does more than sit on a shelf after one review. The deliverable will become a document you reference regularly and serve as the driving force in accomplishing the goals and growth you’ve worked so hard to achieve.

Strategic planning. All CEOs or business leaders have gone through this process in some form or fashion. As a firm focused on this important process and the impact it can have for our partners, Prolific has teamed up with a variety of CEOs and leaders from multiple sectors and backgrounds who are committed to exponential growth.

Our partners often ask us how they should engage us throughout the strategic planning process. Ultimately, strategic plans should serve as a roadmap for accomplishing the growth goals an organization is committed to reaching in the short and long term. Strategic plans should possess insightful research, bold strategies, and tactics to execute and implement the strategic plan. The journey to an effective strategic plan is almost always accomplished through the guidance of an effective leader. Below are three personas of CEOs who go through the strategic planning process to achieve success.

The Visionary CEO

The Visionary CEO understands his or her vision and mission intimately. They value the impact they provide their target audiences and know their own people inside and out. They also understand that new, bold strategies to empower their vision and mission are critical for on-going success. They’re not insecure in going through the strategic planning process, and don’t feel pressure to have every strategy figured out in pursuit of their goals. Visionary CEOs don’t say things like, “yeah, we’ve tried that already.” Instead, they are steadfast in their focus and commitment to their organization’s purpose while pursuing new ideas from multiple people to maximize the metrics they care about most. This CEO is open-minded and wants to hear new, data-driven, fresh ideas on the strategies her or his team will commit to over the course of 1–3 years. They value outside advisors and expect them to provide high-impact strategies that will move the needle for the organization.

The Hands-On CEO

The Hands-OnCEO is intimately involved in the strategy development process. Often, they possess a specific focus on what strategies they want included in their strategic plan. Hands-On CEOs even have an idea of how they want their strategies executed tactically. Less willing to budge on his or her own strategies, the Hands-On CEO is mildly interested in new ideas that could drive greater gains, but more interested in seeing their own ideas further built out so they can come to life and be executed efficiently. They understand that locking in a precise strategy and direction for their team is crucial for continued prosperity and having an outside partner to develop this roadmap is necessary and important. They will dig in to the details of strategy development, giving direct and specific thoughts for the strategies that need to be crafted in order to influence the way strategies are developed. Because they are only focused on one or two key metrics for success, the Hands-OnCEO will be very clear on expectations and outcomes the strategic plan must accomplish and is 100% invested in the whole process.

The Collaborator CEO

This CEO strikes a great balance between providing strong vision and direction, while also remaining curious to innovative initiatives that can advance their business. They’re committed to remaining strategic, not tactical. They value vision and strategy, but also understand that downstream tactics and executions turn ideas into reality. The CollaboratorCEO will participate in strategy development but provide space for strategists and researchers to think and dream. They will lead and direct while offering wide guardrails for big ideas to emerge. The CollaboratorCEO will be highly involved in the first 20% and the last 20% of the strategic plan process, providing great expectations and confirming that the end deliverable meets their needs.

The great thing about these strategic planning personas is that they all produce a successful end result. Whether you engage more intimately, provide vision and delegate, or act as a player-coach, strategic plans are foundational deliverables all organizations who want to maximize their goals should possess.