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OGSM and top-level leadership: seven key points for CEOs and leaders
Leadership at the top level is about choices under tension. OGSM helps CEOs keep direction, make dilemmas explicit and manage long-term impact in a complex reality.
scheduling
Looking ahead to 2026: Start with choices, not intentions
Introduction
For leaders and teams, January often feels like a fresh start. New energy, new ambitions, new plans. But if you look honestly, you often see a persistent pattern: after six weeks, that energy has usually evaporated. Not because the vision is missing, but because intentions provide no direction. An organization can only really accelerate if there are sharp choices that have been translated into a concrete plan of action and an adjusted cadence that ensures that the choices made count and the approach adds up.
Looking ahead is therefore not about filling a document, but about setting up a process in which strategy is translated into concrete action, rhythm and ownership.
Too often, we make vague plans without a framework
Many annual plans are well-intentioned, but they lack the backbone that provides structure and direction. They are full of goals, projects and initiatives, but often do not answer three fundamental questions:
- What do we want to achieve in concrete terms?
What goals make 2026 meaningful? And what trends or developments do we need to actively include in order to remain relevant? - What are we consciously leaving behind?
Which initiatives, markets or ambitions do not fit our course? Focus means choosing. Without this, the plan remains a sum. - How do we measure and discuss progress?
Without rhythm and transparency, a plan turns into a document that is only opened at the start of the year.
An annual plan without these three elements is actually not a plan. Strategical-looking, but without real direction, linked to daily operations.
Start 2026 with a plan that works
Below is the process we use. Applicable, well-organized and can be developed in one or two good sessions. Each component contributes to a plan that creates focus and provides direction.
Step 1 — Start from your core ambition (the Objective)
What should make 2026 meaningful for your organization or team?
Your Objective is your starting point for each new year. Your Objective is not a marketing phrase and not a collection of fine words strung together, but a clear statement about your position, your desired impact and the choice you make in your playing field. A good Objective provides direction and makes it possible to set sharp goals.
Step 2 — Determine which goals remain, change, or are new needed
Once a year, you evaluate your goals. Not every goal deserves another chapter.
That's why you decide:
- which goals remain relevant,
- which need tightening,
- and what new goals are necessary to achieve your ambition.
Goals are always formulated SMART so that they provide guidance.
Example:
— “We want to grow” is intent.
— “We're increasing sales in segment X by 15%” is clear about what needs to be achieved.
Teams function better when the destination is crystal clear.
Step 3 — Choose strategies: what are you going to do and what not?
This is where most of the plans go off the rails. Not because of bad ideas, but because of too many ideas.
Strategy starts with the question:
What brings us closest to the ambition?
And right after that:
What are we leaving behind to make that possible?
A strategy is not a list of activities. It is the concrete choice in direction that determines how you will achieve your goals. The sharper, the more effective.
Step 4 — Translate strategy into action
What actions are we going to take in the near vicinity? Don't plan all year round. That rarely works. Get off to a flying start:
- What do we do in Q1?
- What do we deliver at the latest and when?
- What new initiatives are we starting?
- Who takes what responsibility?
- When will it be finished?
A sharp list of actions involving energy and ownership creates momentum. So make good use of the beginning of the year to boost the energy.
Step 5 — Set the rhythm of steering and adjusting
Strategy only takes meaning when you focus on it. So no thick quarterly reports and meetings just because they're on the agenda, but a rhythm that works:
- monthly progress discussions in the teams,
- a sharp review with your MT every quarter,
- clarity about where the metrics are,
- and honest conversations about what works and what doesn't.
Managing is mainly about smart organization followed by discipline. It's a way of working where you're constantly making adjustments based on facts, not stories, assumptions, or routines.
Why facilitation makes your plan stronger
External guidance speeds up the process and increases quality. Not because a team cannot plan itself, but because an independent facilitator offers four advantages:
- Better plans stronger in terms of content because a good OGSM facilitator uses the right technique of asking questions and has years of experience with numerous organizations.
- Sharper choices because preferential thinking and internal sensitivities are broken more quickly.
- Stronger dynamics because everyone can participate fully instead of having to lead the process.
- Tighter rhythm so that the plan is not only drawn up, but also supported and implemented.
Most plans fail not on content, but on process and discipline. That is exactly where the added value of good guidance lies. Curious about what guidance can mean for your OGSM process? Get in touch with us.
What you achieve with a well-facilitated process
- You start the year with a more focused focus.
- Teams know exactly what their contribution looks like.
- Internal noise disappears and decision-making accelerates.
- The strategy comes to life in daily choices.
Don't make 2026 a year of hope but of focusing on your plans.
From intent to impact
The question is not whether you have an annual plan.
The question is whether you have a plan to send.
A plan that includes choices, has rhythm and offers space. A plan that guides what you do every day. If you start 2026 like this, you will not only create a new year but, above all, a new way of working.
