Is Your Strategic Plan Fighting Human Nature?
Ask Yourself:
• Is your team exhausted but can’t slow down?
• Is an us-vs-them mentality killing your culture?
• Do people resist change despite knowing it’s necessary?
• Do you need results NOW but your people need a break?If you answered yes to any of these, your strategy might be working against basic brain chemistry.
I’m going to recommend you do something you’ve almost certainly not done for your strategic plan… Strategically plan how to ensure you can execute your strategic plan.
Huh?
The Reality Check
Ok, let me break it down.
90% of employees are stressed at work, and 44% are thinking of quitting before May (Insightful).
These aren’t just statistics. They’re leaks in your fuel line… It’s a threat to your traction.
What Leaders Everywhere Are Telling Us
If you’re like most leaders we talk to, these challenges might sound familiar:
- “My team is exhausted, but we can’t slow down”
- “The us-vs-them mentality is killing our culture”
- “People resist change, even when they know it’s necessary”
- “We need results NOW, but our people need a break”
And none of this changes the stark reality: your market is evolving, competition is fierce, and standing still isn’t an option.
The Hidden Threat to Your Strategic Plan
You’ve got your spreadsheets, metrics, and a carefully crafted strategic plan to make 2025 your best year yet. But there’s a powerful threat you might be overlooking:
You can’t motivate an exhausted team. And traditional strategies of leadership work to entrench resistance, perpetuate exhaustion, and sabotage effective communication and collaboration.
Even the most people-first leaders can fall into hidden traps. When we neglect to consider and work with our brain’s natural wiring, we’re literally fighting human nature.
And that’s a battle no leader can win.
Warning Signs You’re Fighting an Uphill Battle
Watch for these red flags that could scuttle your brilliant plans:
- A growing “Us vs. them” mentality
- People complaining instead of problem-solving
- Increasing resistance to–or sabotage of–change
- Rising frustration with “entitled” attitudes
- Unexpected resistance emerging to simple tasks
The Telltale Sign You Can’t Ignore
There’s one more crucial indicator: You’re avoiding crucial conversations.
The very exhaustion you and your team may be feeling from a tough 2024 reduces your capacity to have the crucial conversations that could make you a more effective team. You’re suffering from a lack of trust.
Not having these crucial conversations is going to make you less effective, which will increase stress and conflict. And that in turn will reduce trust and prevent crucial conversations.
You’ve got to get out of this death spiral!
Conflict–both the conflict you have and the conflict you avoid–often leads to our believing that we’re surrounded by bad attitudes. “I don’t like your attitude, buddy.”
Here’s the thing: Bad attitudes… Truly bad attitudes are rarer than you think.
More likely, you’re encountering knee-jerk reactions to unseen challenges to what the brain is wired to want… To fight for.
The Brain Science of Successful Strategic Planning
Ever wonder…
How do video games enchant and make so-called “lazy” people focus for hours, trying and failing again and again until they finally get it right?
How do sports teams create life-long loyalty from fans who moved away decades ago?
They work with human nature, not against it. And so can you and your leadership team.
You can tap into primitive parts of people’s minds and improve performance and the employee experience at the same time.
Not to mention, you’ll struggle less and breathe easier.
Transform Your Team’s Dynamics
If you’re seeing or feeling that there may not be enough gas in the tank… If in your heart of hearts, you’re wondering if the team you have is the team you need, then you and your leadership team need another strategy session. This time, it’s not about WHAT you need to do as a team. This time it’s about what’s the strategy to ensure you’re ready to TEAM.
You need to conduct an “Awaken and Align Team Galvanization Strategy Session.”
You can do it on your own (guidelines in next week’s blog).
Or, you can ask for our facilitation support (we have room for only 4 more “Awaken and Align” strategy clients in 2025).
Leaders who’ve used this brain-friendly approach report not just better execution, but transformed team dynamics and stronger business results. Your 2025 success starts with understanding how to work with – not against – your team’s natural wiring.
[Insert Jim Dorrough’s testimonial here]
Don’t Wait Until Your Strategic Plan Stalls
To hit the ground running in 2025 with enough fuel in the tank to last all year long, you’ll need to Awaken and Align your team’s minds, passions, and strengths with your strategic goals – so they’ll execute like never before.
I know what you’re thinking: you don’t have time for another strategy session, right?
But here’s the real question: Do you have time to struggle with burnout, resistance and turnover?
You’ll have to assess whether you are setting yourself up to have to push your strategy uphill, or whether you’re aligning gravity to work in your favor.
🚀 Take Action Now
OPTION 1: Stay Tuned Watch this space next week for our DIY guide to conducting your own “Awaken and Align Team Galvanization Strategy Day.”
OPTION 2: Get Our Expert Support
• Get a free strategy sounding board
• Have us facilitate your team’s session
• Ensure your team fires on all cylindersLimited Availability: Only 4 spots left for 2025. Book Your Strategy Call.