Create a Strong Foundation

• The Foundation phase of the Compass Strategic Planning Process establishes clarity, trust, and alignment — ensuring that your leadership team begins with a shared understanding of where the organization has been, where it stands today, and where it aspires to go next. This stage sets the tone for authentic collaboration, open dialogue, and vulnerability — the essential conditions for strategic growth and real connection.

  1. Build a Shared Understanding

  • Develop a mutual understanding of your organization’s history — what got you here.

  • Honor the past by recognizing the lessons, successes, and challenges that shaped your current position.

  • Prepare to embrace the future through open, authentic conversation about what needs to evolve — individually, as a team, and as an organization.

  2. Map Key Stakeholders

  • Create a Stakeholder Map identifying the people, partners, and communities most connected to your organization’s success.

  • Clarify internal and external relationships that are essential to achieving strategic goals and living your organizational values.

  3. Conduct a Comprehensive Situation Assessment

  • Develop an up-to-date, data-informed view of the organization’s current state using:

    • SWOT Analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

    • PESTLE Review – Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental trends

    • Internal Data Review – Financial performance, operational metrics, culture surveys, and customer insights

  This analysis establishes a grounded picture of reality — a necessary first step to align strategy with what truly matters most.

  4. Assess Team Dynamics and Leadership Readiness

  To lead with clarity, authenticity, and empathy, the planning team must understand its own strengths, tendencies, and blind spots. Compass integrates multiple tools to assess both behavioral dynamics and mindset readiness:

  • DISC – Identifies communication and behavioral preferences.

  • Five Functions of a Team – Evaluates trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results.

  • LEAD NOW – Maps leadership competencies to growth opportunities.

  • Positive Intelligence (PQ) – Builds awareness of saboteur patterns and strengthens mental fitness for higher performance and emotional agility.

  These assessments help the team create a culture of psychological safety, where authenticity and vulnerability are encouraged — fostering honest dialogue, curiosity, and accountability throughout the strategic process.

  5. Define and Articulate Strategic Intent

  • Clearly define your Strategic Intent — the shared vision, purpose, and guiding principles that align decision-making and inspire collective effort.

  • Capture not only what the organization aims to achieve, but why it matters and how success will be achieved through values-driven behavior.

  6. Capture and Visualize Insights

  • Use a Graphic Meeting Recorder to visually capture discussions, insights, and decisions in real time.

  • This creates a shared, visual narrative of the team’s journey — enhancing connection, retention, and clarity as the strategy takes shape.

  Outcome of the Foundation Phase:

  A leadership team that is aligned, self-aware, and ready to lead from a place of authenticity and trust. This phase establishes both the strategic and human foundation for the next Compass stages — Simplify, Lead, and Grow — ensuring that every action, priority, and conversation moves forward with purpose and focus.

Simplify

The Simplify phase of the Compass Strategic Planning Process is about clarity, focus, and courage — ensuring that the organization is intentionally aligned around what creates the greatest value. Using the 80/20 lens, leaders streamline structures, systems, and priorities to concentrate resources on the few things that matter most.

Simplification is not just operational — it’s also mental and cultural. It requires authentic leadership, open dialogue, and the vulnerability to let go of what no longer serves the strategy, even when it’s comfortable or familiar.

1. Conduct an Organizational Review

• Perform a clean-sheet review of the organization’s structure, processes, and technologies to ensure alignment with the delivery of the “80” — the core products and services that create 80% of customer value and profit.

• Evaluate how each function and role contributes to the strategy and customer experience.

• Eliminate or redesign activities that dilute focus or add unnecessary complexity.

2. Review Cost Structure and Value Alignment

• Assess the cost structure to ensure resources are directed toward high-value customer segments and strategic priorities.

• Identify underperforming investments and reallocate resources to activities that strengthen your competitive position.

• Use data-informed insights to ensure financial discipline supports strategic growth — not bureaucracy or inertia.

3. Evaluate and Align Talent

• Conduct a current inventory of talent and assess alignment with strategic needs.

• Identify high-potential individuals and ensure clear retention and development plans are in place.

• Have authentic and courageous conversations about performance and potential — recognizing that simplifying also means making tough, people-centered decisions with empathy and respect.

• Leverage Positive Intelligence (PQ) insights to help leaders manage internal saboteurs (e.g., Avoider, Pleaser, Hyper-Achiever) that often surface during difficult organizational transitions.

4. Identify and Build New Capabilities

• Determine new capabilities — skills, technologies, or partnerships — required to execute the evolving strategy.

• Prioritize capability-building efforts that directly impact the organization’s ability to serve its most important customers and markets.

• Encourage a culture of continuous learning where experimentation and curiosity are valued over perfection.

5. Design the Transition Plan

• Develop a transition roadmap from the current structure to the simplified, future-state design.

• Include clear accountabilities, timelines, and communication plans to ensure engagement and transparency at every level.

• Encourage vulnerability-based leadership during the transition — acknowledging the discomfort that can accompany change while reinforcing the shared vision and values guiding it.

Outcome of the Simplify Phase:

A leaner, clearer, and more focused organization — aligned around the 20% of activities, people, and capabilities that generate 80% of value. Leaders and teams emerge more confident, connected, and ready to execute with clarity and purpose, guided by authenticity, courage, and trust.

Lead With Clarity

• The Lead phase of the Compass Strategic Planning Process transforms strategic intent into rhythm, alignment, and measurable progress. This is where strategy comes to life through consistent leadership cadence, clear communication, and a culture grounded in empathy, curiosity, and authenticity.

  Leading with clarity means balancing structure and humanity — holding people accountable to results while remaining open, curious, and empathetic to the realities of execution. It’s about creating focus and traction without losing connection or trust.

  1. Lead Through the 80/20 Lens

  • Continue to simplify products, services, and processes around the “80” opportunities that drive profitable growth.

  • Ensure simplification efforts reduce negatives (waste, confusion, redundancy) and amplify positives (value, impact, differentiation).

  • Use data-informed curiosity to ask questions that challenge assumptions and maintain focus on what matters most:

    • “Why do we do this?”

    • “Does it serve our ‘80’ customers or our purpose?”

    • “What would happen if we stopped doing it?”

  2. Strengthen Workflow and Overserve the “80”

  • Map and refine end-to-end workflows, eliminating inefficiencies and leveraging technology where it amplifies results.

  • Build a Market Champion Mindset — inspiring teams to think like owners, stay curious about customer needs, and deliver excellence to the “80.”

  • Lead with empathy and authenticity, ensuring systems and decisions make work easier and more meaningful for both employees and customers.

  3. Establish a Leadership Rhythm of Accountability

  Consistency drives clarity. Compass organizations operate on a structured yet flexible meeting rhythm that keeps the plan visible, actionable, and alive.

  Recommended Compass Meeting Cadence

  • Annual Strategic Reset (1–2 Days)

    Reconfirm vision, values, and 80/20 priorities. Refresh the One-Page Strategic Plan (OPSP) and revisit key leadership assessments (PQ, DISC, Five Functions, LEAD NOW).

  • Quarterly Alignment Review (½ Day)

    Evaluate strategic progress and KPIs. Identify roadblocks, reallocate resources, and set the next 90-day objectives.

  • Monthly Leadership Review (2–3 Hours)

    Review scorecards, discuss leading metrics, and share learnings. Use a Sage Check-In (Empathy + Curiosity + Navigate) to strengthen team connection and accountability.

  • Weekly Team Huddles (30–60 Minutes)

    Review top actions, metrics, and blockers. Keep the focus on moving forward, not on reporting. End with appreciation or recognition tied to company values.

  • Daily Stand-Ups (5–10 Minutes) (optional)

    Quick team touchpoints to reinforce priorities, alignment, and connection.

  Each meeting builds on the one before — from strategy to execution — ensuring that clarity, empathy, and accountability cascade throughout the organization.

  4. Invest in the Right Tools and Systems

  • Adopt a strategic plan management tool (e.g., Align Technologies’ Focus) to track priorities, KPIs, and action plans.

  • Keep the system simple and transparent — it should support, not complicate, leadership rhythm.

  • Use dashboards to visualize progress, reinforcing data-driven clarity and shared ownership.

  5. Keep the Plan Active and Alive

  • Review and update metrics weekly to maintain alignment and responsiveness.

  • Encourage vulnerable and empathetic leadership — openly discuss challenges, celebrate progress, and invite diverse perspectives.

  • Partner with your coach to sustain focus, reflection, and growth — ensuring both performance and well-being remain in balance.

  • Keep it simple. Keep it consistent. Keep it human.

  Outcome of the Lead Phase

  A leadership culture that combines clarity with compassion, discipline with curiosity, and accountability with authenticity.

  Leaders model trust and transparency, teams execute with focus and agility, and the organization moves forward with unified rhythm and purpose.

  When you Lead with Clarity, strategy becomes a living system — not a document. The Compass framework ensures that every meeting, metric, and conversation strengthens alignment, engagement, and sustainable growth.

Example:  Link To Align Technologies "Focus" Solution

Grow with Purpose, Authenticity, and Sustainable Differentiation

The Grow phase of the Compass Strategic Planning Process transforms strategic clarity and operational discipline into sustainable growth, authentic leadership, and cultural strength.

Growth within Compass is not simply about expansion — it’s about deepening impact, amplifying differentiation, and staying authentic to who you are. True growth occurs when strategy, structure, and culture align with purpose — ensuring that what makes your organization distinctive continues to define it as it scales.

1. Measure What Matters Most

• Evaluate performance using key metrics and scorecards aligned to your One-Page Strategic Plan (OPSP).

• Track both results (the “what”) and values-driven behaviors (the “how”) to ensure that success remains grounded in authenticity and purpose.

• Celebrate outcomes in ways that reflect your culture — highlighting real stories of people and teams who delivered results the right way.

2. Strengthen and Scale Your Differentiation

• Identify and protect the core differentiators that make your organization unique — whether that’s innovation, service excellence, design quality, or the way your culture shows up in the customer experience.

• Apply 80/20 focus to double down on what defines your advantage and let go of what doesn’t serve your strategic direction.

• Scale your differentiation without losing authenticity — ensuring that growth magnifies your values rather than diluting them.

• Teach leaders and teams to communicate and live your differentiators daily, so every decision and interaction reinforces what makes your organization distinct.

3. Reinforce Culture, Values, and Authentic Leadership

• Revisit and reaffirm your core values, ensuring they remain practical, visible, and connected to everyday behaviors.

• Build a culture of authenticity and vulnerability, where leaders share openly, listen deeply, and foster genuine human connection.

• Recognize that authentic growth starts with trust — teams perform best when they feel seen, valued, and respected.

• Lead with empathy and curiosity, balancing results with understanding and compassion. This creates a high-performance culture rooted in purpose and belonging.

4. Innovate Through the 80/20 and Differentiation Lens

• Apply 80/20 discipline to identify new opportunities that reinforce your strengths rather than stretch them thin.

  • “Does this innovation strengthen what makes us unique?”

  • “Does it deepen our connection with our ‘80’ customers?”

  • “Is it consistent with our authentic brand and values?”

    Ask:

• Encourage experimentation and curiosity, but maintain focus on innovations that advance your purpose and elevate your differentiators.

5. Institutionalize Learning, Coaching, and Mindset Growth

• Hold regular reflection sessions to capture lessons learned and continuously refine systems, behaviors, and results.

• Partner with your Compass coach to assess leadership development, Positive Intelligence (PQ) growth, and organizational resilience.

• Build an internal coaching culture — where feedback, curiosity, and empathy become part of the daily operating rhythm.

• Develop authentic leaders who lead from values, model vulnerability, and inspire others through integrity and alignment, not authority alone.

Outcome of the Grow Phase

A sustainably successful, values-centered organization that grows through authenticity, differentiation, and discipline.

You don’t just grow larger — you grow stronger, truer, and more focused.

• Strategically: by scaling your differentiators and reinvesting in your 80/20 strengths.

• Culturally: by leading with authenticity, empathy, and vulnerability.

• Operationally: by simplifying systems that support continuous learning and performance.

Through Compass, growth is the reflection of authenticity in action.

You Simplify to focus.

You Lead to align.

You Grow to amplify what makes you unique — with clarity, compassion, and confidence.