There are many sites for strategic insights. None of these make sense if the mentalscape of leaders is confused, tentative, and cluttered.

Many distractions and wrong routes to getting this right in the minds of leaders, which include:

- muddled up ideas and process on strategy;
- political considerations and dynamics within;
- confusing strategy with program thrusts and value-driven motivations;
- pleasing all stakeholders for the sake of appeasement;
- not budgeting for monitoring, implementation and evaluation of the strategy outcomes;
- delegating the process to 'one or two people' in the organization;
- using a strategy as a a tick-box solution for other ills in the organization;
- short-term thinking;

As a leader, you better know why you're doing this and what outcomes you're seeking. Just because the old one is expiring soon, it doesn't mean that you should automatically create a new one without further introspection. 

Declutter your mentalscape. Protect it from distractions and short-term mindset. When you do, the vision becomes clearer, the process is straightforward, and your budget is maximized on value.
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Leaders of on-purpose organizations are trying hard to diagnose their own problems. They may get to symptoms but it will be way off from the mark in terms of what's the cause of their miseries or wasting the opportunities they should be claiming. In short, value left on the table.

It's like trying to be a doctor and treating your own illness. Or doing your own surgery for which you're not trained or even qualified to do. They want to get the cheapest doctor or specialist. They think they can do it themselves. They look for commodities as against the right resource for the right kind of value-increasing proposition facing them.

This is not a question of money or the question of time or competency of staff, Board, or executive to undertake. This is about the political will and the right measure for risks. 

This represents the overabundance of caution based on a fear-based leadership.

Are you leading based on fear by being afraid to expose your own truths to yourself? Change readiness is the attitude, motivation, and drive to change. It starts with you, now, and not tomorrow. 

Today's news is tomorrow's archive.

If you're waiting for the right opportunity, it might pass you by without you making sense of it.
Fortunately, the world will not stop to pick you up when you're ready and willing.

I believe that opportunities are disguised as conundrum- these are confusing and difficult problems to solve. I saw with my own eyes, how purpose-driven organization turned their world upside down because they saw massive opportunities during the pandemic for their members, the least of these members. I observed how customer-driven organizations refuse to let their excellent track record be affected by the remote work during the crisis. I know personally that some small businesses are not cutting costs but instead, expanding value to their community even more.

These are opportunities. Another kind of opportunity is what you imagine and create for yourself.  Waiting sucks! I have been mentoring a newcomer professional for a number of months and I can say that she's not waiting in her room. She is busy getting out there, creating opportunities to network and link up, and building her credentials so that she can land the job she dreams of! She is physically, emotionally, socially, and financially buffing up! What a great attitude can do? 

It's not cosmic alignment or a question of luck or maybe a great break, it's the everyday readiness that springs you forward. When the opportunity is at hand, I get ready for the next. 

What are you readying for? 
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