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July 25, 2025
“Routine sets you free”
Goals without routines are wishes; routines without goals are aimless. The most successful business leaders have a clear vision and the disciplines (routines) to make it a reality.
To effectively execute, there are three fundamental disciplines (routines): Set Priorities; gather quantitative and qualitative Data; and establish an effective meeting Rhythm. It’s in these meetings, debating the data (the brutal facts!), where the priorities emerge.
In retaining employees and keeping them engaged, we’ll cover the five activities of great (vs. good) managers (we prefer the term “coaches” — more on this later): •Help people play to their strengths. •Don’t demotivate; dehassle. •Set clear expectations and give employees a clear line of sight. •Give recognition and show appreciation. •Hire fewer people, but pay them more (frontline employees, not top leaders!).
Can you state your firm’s strategy simply — and is it driving sustainable growth in revenue and gross margins?
Ask the team this as oart if our 2026 planning
Strategic thinking requires a handful of senior leaders meeting weekly (it’s not sufficient to do strategy work once a quarter or once a year) in what Jim Collins calls “the council.” It’s a meeting separate from the standard executive team meeting. Rather than getting mired in operational issues, the strategic thinking team is focused on discussing a few big strategic issues including those outlined in the SWT and 7 Strata tools summarized below.
This us what OC & I discussed on Fri Jul 25
Execution planning, in turn, requires a much larger team engaged in implementing the broader strategy. Setting specific annual and quarterly priorities, outcomes, and KPIs is best if middle management and frontline employees are involved. They are closer to the day-to-day operational issues of the company, and their participation in setting the plan creates better buy-in.
This is our 360 meeting
If you want to get everyone on the “same page” you need the page! For companies just getting started implementing the Rockefeller Habits as well as firms with 50 employees or fewer, the Vision Summary provides a simplified One-Page Strategic Plan (OPSP) framework. And for larger firms taking advantage of the more detailed aspects of the OPSP, the Vision Summary provides a one-page format to communicate key aspects of the company’s vision to employees, customers, investors, and the broader community.
Create our one page
BHAG® for the company? These come straight from Jim Collins’ hedgehog framework. One-Page Strategic Plan (OPSP):
We don't have any BHAG
Everyone seems to be working more hours, spinning their wheels, or spending too much time fixing things that should have been done right the first time.
Ask the team about this in 2026 planning
We recommend that each senior leader formally talk to one employee each week and ask, “What should the company Start/Stop/Keep doing?”
2026 Plannibg
company’s 10- to 25-year goal (BHAG®); who the core customers are; the three Brand Promises everyone needs to keep; and what the company does — and be able to explain it when asked (the elevator pitch).
2026 plannjng - whats our elevator pitch
No one has ever achieved peak performance without a coach. Visit www.scalingup.com to locate a coach near you.
Talk to OC abiut how to implement this
holding a daily huddle at 7:30 a.m. to keep everyone focused on execution.
How would we implement this?
One-Page Strategic Plan.
Successful delegation requires four components, assuming you have delegated a job to the right person or team: 1.Pinpoint what the person or team needs to accomplish (Priorities — One-Page Strategic Plan). 2.Create a measurement system for monitoring progress (Data — qualitative and quantitative key performance indicators). 3.Provide feedback to the team or person (Meeting Rhythm). 4.Give appropriately timed recognition and reward (because we’re dealing with people, not machines).
Delegation
Repetition encompasses consistency. Finish what you start. Mean what you say. And don’t say one thing and do something else. Consistency is an important aspect of repetition.
Quiz - am I consistent enough in my communication
Cultivate collective intelligence •Nurture swarm creativity •Rely on distributed leadership •Depend on reciprocity and sharing •Compound regenerative growth
How we should organize & empower
So the first step is to stop and make your list!
We dont leverge Provenance nearly enough - they need to be part of our list
The Business of Happiness: 6 Secrets to Extraordinary Success in Life and Work. He notes in his book a strong correlation between happiness and the number of diverse communities in which you are active.
Next read
An organization is simply an amplifier of what’s happening at the senior level of the company, which is one of the reasons our coaching partners do a quick employee survey as they start working with an organization..
What roles / disciplines Arex we missing
Why? Because leaders have a tendency to hold on too tight, strangling the efforts of those around them.
ECOM 26 -
Where do i over manage?
What do inhold on to too tightly?
Where am i not involved enough?
KPIs that are representative of the daily and weekly activities of the person listed for a particular function.
Need to add bonus to people in profit generating roles. They need to have tge right carrot & incentive start with 15% of their salary
The right KPIs, along with sufficient market intelligence
Market intelligence - a role / funxtion we dont have but definitely neesd
They need to become more like coaches/advisors to the business unit leaders, rather than acting as their “bosses.”
Leaders, not bosses
Add to our annual review process
Brand Promises and activities underpinning your strategy (see “The 7 Strata of Strategy” chapter).
What is our Brand Promise?
Does everyone clearly know & understand it?
failure to develop sufficient leadership is one of the three biggest barriers to growth.
2026 Planning
