Leadership In Strategic Planning

3 Pillars of Culture AIM Model for Culture Transformations What if we’ve been aiming at culture… but not aiming right? After two decades of research, consulting, and executive education, I’ve come to define culture through a three-facet lens—a contribution I’ve proposed to the literature: 1. Culture as North Star – Mission, vision, and values: your strategic direction and shared aspiration. 2. Operational Culture – Policies, procedures, systems, and structure: how work actually gets done. 3. Culture as Employee Experience – The emotional and psychological reality of people at work. These three facets are distinct—yet deeply intertwined. When working on culture transformation, I’ve found it helpful to distill these into a practical framework for leaders: AIM². AIM² = A = Aspiration & Alignment (Culture as North Star) I = Implementation & Infrastructure (Operational Culture) M=Motivation & Mood (Culture as Employee Experience) This model bridges the strategic, operational, and human dimensions of culture. When organizations only focus on one or two facets, culture becomes imbalanced: Too abstract. Or too mechanical. Or too emotional. But when you AIM², you aim with strategy, structure, and soul. And that’s when culture becomes a true competitive advantage. So if you're working to build a culture of innovation, collaboration, agility—or anything else—make sure you’re considering all three facets. It’s the only way to lead culture with intention, clarity, and lasting impact. #strategy #culture #leadingwithstrategy #northstar

"Culture change" is the biggest lie in organizational transformation. Here's what actually happens: You run workshops. You print posters. You train people on new values. Six months later, behavior looks exactly the same. Why? Because you've got the causality backwards. Culture follows structure. Not the other way around. Craig Larman captured this in his Laws of Organizational Behavior. The first law: Organizations are implicitly optimized to avoid changing the status quo of middle- and first-level manager positions and power structures. Read that again. Your organization isn't resisting change because people are difficult. It's resisting change because it's designed to resist change. The structure, rewards, and processes are all optimized to preserve existing power. Want to change culture? Change the structure. Want people to collaborate? Remove the structural barriers that make collaboration expensive. Want innovation? Create Product Groups with real P&L ownership and decision-making authority. Want customer focus? Merge customer-facing and product development units so everyone shares the same measures of success. Jay Galbraith's Star Model shows this clearly: Strategy, Structure, Processes, Rewards, and People practices must be in harmony. Change one without the others, and the system snaps back. Stop running culture workshops. Start redesigning your organization. The culture you want will emerge from the structure you create. #SimplificationOfficers #OrganizationalChange

The debate on art of strategy and turning ideas into reality provokes the question what is the right way to approach or address your pathway to the future and be on track with your desired strategic objectives . I came across this crispy book by Jeroen Kraaijenbrink who has provocatively discussed how to address strategy in “ The One-Hour Rule” and cultivate the behavior and strategic thinking change in an organization. He argues that executives should spend one hour per day, managers one hour per week, and employees one hour per month on Strategy! And he goes beyond to explain why it’s always viable to start the conversation of strategy with “ what is” and “ what if” to assess your current status and bridge the gap on what could be done differently when adopting your roadmap. While I encourage you to read and enjoy the book; here are my takeaways; 1. Make a strategy the rule, not the exception, whereby it gives stability to the organization. 2. Make a strategy part of everyone’s job and this will truly transform behavior of your organization and people in their jobs. 3. When complexity increases, involve more people to gain more perspective and better decision. 4. Pay attention to details as it can bring uniqueness and guide your strategy execution. 5. Make strategy a continuous process, not an event. Successful functioning requires continuous alignment. 6. Monitor actively and change reluctantly. Stability and adaptability are non-compromised. 7. Go for better, not the best! Perfection paralyze people and blocks action! 8. Aim for confidence and decisiveness. 9. Strategy and execution are two sides of the same process. They go hand in hand 10. Start strategy from inside and leverage on your assets and skills. 11. Allocate resources and held people responsible for execution. 12. Focus on no more than three issues, insights, and ideas. 13. Don’t describe a complete strategy. Focus on what requires attention next. 14. Always end with actions because without actions, nothing ever changes! #Strategy #Execution #BusinessTransformation #LeadershipDevelopment

Clear long-term plans let me “retire” as an Amazon VP at 50, travel 5 months a year, and still make money. Here’s how I did it and how you can apply the same thinking to your own life. Bill Gates once said, “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year but underestimate what they can do in 10 years.” I agree. Here are four real long-term plans I’ve created: – A 5-year savings plan that let me retire – A 10-year travel plan to see the world – A 10-year business plan for impact – A 40-year health plan to stay fit through age 95 Plan 1: Retire in 5 Years As my career progressed, I started thinking about financial independence. I followed three simple financial rules throughout my life to make this a possibility: 1. Live on less than I make 2. Invest for the long term 3. Max out my 401(k) match In my 40s, I calculated how much I needed to retire and I realized I was about 5 years away. The plan stretched to 7.5 years, but I made it. Even if plans shift, having one gives you clarity and options. Plan 2: A Business Plan for Purpose Post-retirement, I built a 10-year business plan to help others find career success and satisfaction. The plan includes scaling my impact and reaching 1 million people. Like all good long-term plans, this one evolves, but the overarching vision stays constant. Plan 3: See the World I made a list of everywhere I wanted to go and started planning travel around those dreams. Galapagos. Iceland. Switzerland. This is my “active years” travel plan, and it only works because of Plan 1—financial freedom. But you don’t need to be wealthy to travel, just committed to a plan. Budget, partner with others, and get creative. Plan 4: Be Healthy at 95 This is the longest-range plan I’ve made. Inspired by Dr. Peter Attia’s concept of the “Centenarian Decathlon,” I mapped out what I want to be able to do at age 95 and then worked backward. If I want to lift a grandkid off the floor at 95, I need to be strong enough today. The details of each of these plans are in my newsletter. But before I link that, I want to give you some specific tips to create powerful long term plans: 1. Decide what area to focus on (my four plans were financial, business, travel, and health) Trying to create a single holistic life and career plan at this scale is likely too complex. Take it on in pieces. 2. Figure out where you want to be in 5, 10, or 40 years. What is the ultimate goal. 3. Work backwards from the end as well as forward from where you are. Meet in the middle. 4. Iterate. You can draft the plan all in one sitting, but these plans benefit from periodic revision. I have clarified, updated, and changed all of my plans once to twice a year. The end goals have rarely to never changed, but the next steps and priorities within the plan definitely do. 5. Be flexible. The plan exists to help you, not to constrain you. Link: https://buff.ly/03hEvz2 Readers—share your long-term plans.

🚨 This is a (another) meaningful signal from Disney. The company is creating a new centralized marketing and brand organization, with Asad stepping into the role of Chief Marketing and Brand Officer overseeing marketing teams from film, television and streaming to theme parks and ESPN This move matters beyond an org chart update. The Walt Disney Company is acknowledging something the industry has been circling for years. Brand is no longer downstream from content. It is the connective tissue between storytelling, platforms, franchises, parks, products, and cultural relevance. Asad’s track record reflects that reality. From Disney100 to global franchise campaigns, his work has consistently treated marketing as a storytelling discipline, not a promotional layer. Elevating that mindset to an enterprise level reshapes how decisions are made upstream. What stands out is the timing. Audience behavior is fragmented. Distribution is everywhere. Franchises live across film, streaming, games, parks, social, and retail. In that environment, brand coherence becomes a growth lever, not a safeguard. This structure positions marketing closer to creative, closer to strategy, and closer to leadership. That proximity changes outcomes. It creates alignment earlier. It sharpens focus. It reinforces long-term franchise equity. 💡 For anyone building in media, entertainment, or consumer experiences, the takeaway is clear. ⌙ Brand leadership is becoming a core business function. Disney is formalizing that reality. #Media #Disney #Leadership

Strategy is not a document or a plan. It is a disciplined sequence of leadership moves. Many leaders jump straight to planning and execution. But strategic leadership requires a deeper progression. My friend and Strategy.Inc cofounder Timothy Timur Tiryaki, PhD structures this progression into seven steps in his forthcoming book "Leading with Strategy." I find that sequence both practical and intellectually honest. Unlearn. Strategic work often begins with subtraction. Questioning inherited assumptions about markets, growth, leadership, even success itself. Without unlearning, we simply optimize yesterday. Rethink. Strategy is no longer just competitive positioning. It is reimagining how value is created through culture, business models, and transformation. That requires systems thinking, not isolated initiatives. Discover. Leaders need a North Star. Purpose, identity, and inner compass are not soft elements. They are directional anchors that shape real choices. Design. Strategy becomes architecture. Coherent choices, aligned systems, and clear logic. Not fragmented projects, but an integrated whole. Deepen. The hardest part. Navigating paradoxes and tensions instead of resolving them too quickly. Mining conflict for insight. Staying with complexity long enough to learn. Execute. Clarity must move. Strategy only exists when it changes behavior, resource allocation, and daily decisions. Evolve. Foresight is disciplined preparation. Especially in an age shaped by AI, leaders must cultivate the capability to anticipate and adapt. What I appreciate about this framework is that it connects reflection with action, identity with performance, and thinking with doing. Strategic leadership becomes a meaningful practice, not just a title or ritual. === Tim's book, "Leading with Strategy" launches on March 3 and can already be preordered through the usual channels. If you are serious about strengthening your own strategic leadership, this book deserves a place on your reading list.

Culture Eats Strategy, But Rituals Feed Culture We’ve all heard the phrase “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” But what’s rarely discussed is what actually feeds culture. The answer isn’t values posters or town hall speeches: it’s rituals. Rituals are the repeatable, observable behaviors that shape how people think, act, and relate. Demo days, retrospectives, learning logs; these aren’t soft touches. They’re operational infrastructure. They create rhythm, normalize reflection, and build trust through repetition. If you want transformation to stick, don’t just declare values. Design rituals that reinforce them. Because culture isn’t what you say, it’s what you repeat. And repetition builds belief. Strategy sets direction. Culture sets behavior. Rituals make it stick. #OrganizationalCulture #LeadershipDesign #TransformationTools #RitualsMatter #CultureByDesign

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had several conversations with talent and learning leaders to better understand their priorities and perspective on the future. A recurring theme has been the work of those leading enterprise-wide transformation. These aren’t small, isolated projects, but bold efforts to fundamentally reshape how their organizations operate. Whether it’s rethinking company culture, driving skills-based initiatives, expanding career mobility, adopting AI, managing large-scale transformation, or implementing new leadership frameworks. These leaders are operating at the intersection of business strategy, people development, and organizational change. A question I often hear is: “What separates the most successful efforts from the rest?” After these conversations and dozens of guests on The Edge of Work, a few powerful patterns have emerged. Here are four that consistently show up: 🔶 Systems Thinking: They don’t approach these initiatives as standalone projects. Instead, they embed them into the full talent system, connecting culture, skills, mobility, leadership, and strategy into one cohesive ecosystem. Silos are broken. Work aligns to enterprise goals. 🔶 Coalition Building: While they’re accountable for outcomes, they don’t go it alone. These leaders act less like the “sage on the stage” and more like the “guide on the side,” bringing others along, building ownership across functions, and fostering collective success. 🔶 Change as a Practice: Change isn’t a task list; it’s a muscle. These leaders treat change management as an ongoing practice, embedding it into daily work, meeting people where they are (not just what the spreadsheet says) and continually reinforcing new behaviors to sustain momentum. 🔶 Business First Orientation: They lead as business strategists first. While deeply skilled in talent, they speak first in the native language of their business stakeholders, (then their own) connect initiatives to enterprise outcomes, and position people strategies as drivers of organizational performance. These are just a few of the themes I’ve observed. If you're leading enterprise-wide talent, skills, career, or AI initiatives, what resonates? What would you add? I’d love to hear your perspective. #talent #futureofwork #leadership

In a world of quarterly targets and instant gratification, long-term thinking is becoming a rare—and powerful—superpower. The leaders I admire most are the ones who resist the pressure to react and instead choose to respond. Managers who invest in people and ideas that won’t necessarily pay off tomorrow, but will shape what’s possible years from now. Long-term thinking shows up in all kinds of ways: ✔️ Building a resilient company culture. The strength of a resilient company culture should not be underestimated. It is one that you can lean on during good and bad times. It can serve as your compass and be with you through a company’s evolution. A resilient company allows you to innovate and keeps your mission and purpose aligned. There are no short cuts to building resilience. Meaning that the most resilient cultures are those built over time and through long-term strategic thinking and commitment. ✔️ Choosing sustainable growth over unsustainable speed. Quick growth is fine—great, even—but not if it causes you to make careless mistakes that will be difficult to recover from. If you're growing so fast that you are neglecting quality, or worse, safety, then it's time to recalibrate. Long-term success means prioritizing the well-being of your customers and your team. ✔️ Focusing on relationships with your customer, not just transactions. This includes knowing your stakeholders. If revenue dips, it might be tempting to raise prices to patch the shortfall. However, ask yourself: is  price the problem, or is there something deeper missing in the product or service? Short-term fixes can backfire if they erode trust. Long-term thinking requires you to deeply understand the needs of the people you serve—and to keep earning their loyalty over time. Personally, I’ve found that long-term thinking brings clarity. It helps me filter out the noise and focus on what really matters—not just in business, but in life. If you want to lead with vision, ask yourself: What will matter most in five years? And what am I doing today to build toward that? When you can zoom out, you often see the path forward more clearly. And that’s how leaders—and legacies—are built.

The US consumer forgives fast. The European consumer remembers longer. And that’s exactly why leadership hires can’t be one-size-fits-all. This is one of the biggest mistakes I see global FMCG companies make when hiring across regions. They assume a “strong leader” will work anywhere. Same crisis playbook. Same communication style. Same instincts. In reality, consumer behavior in the US and Europe demands very different leadership responses, especially under pressure. In the US, speed is everything. When something goes wrong, consumers expect immediate acknowledgment, decisive action, and visible progress. Leaders who hesitate or over-engineer responses lose trust faster than those who act and correct in real time. In Europe, trust works differently. Consumers are slower to react, but they remember longer. Credibility is built through consistency, restraint, and follow-through after the spotlight moves on. Leaders who rush to reassure or oversimplify often make things worse. This is where hiring gets risky. A leader who thrives in the US can struggle badly in Europe if they move too fast or communicate too aggressively. A European leader can fail in the US by over-deliberating when decisiveness is expected. On paper, both look impressive. In practice, one may be completely wrong for the market. This is why, when I help clients hire across the US and Europe, I don’t just assess experience. I assess market instinct. How leaders read consumers. How they respond under pressure. How they flex their style without losing credibility. The best global FMCG leaders aren’t universally “strong.” They’re adaptable. They know when speed builds trust and when patience protects it. Hiring that kind of leadership requires real cross-market understanding, not just a global CV. If you’re building teams across the US and Europe, the question isn’t “Is this person senior enough?” It’s “Will this person lead the right way in this market?” #FMCG #ExecutiveSearch #Leadership #GlobalHiring #CPG