Let the strategy sink in.
When working with exec teams on their strategy, we’ve noticed a pattern.
Executive teams spend months wrestling with their strategy—refining it, debating it, and getting it to a place where it finally feels right. Then, almost immediately, they want to move straight into execution.
The problem? Their teams haven’t had the same time to process.
This is where we see so many leaders stumble. While they’re ready to go full speed ahead, their people are still trying to figure out how the strategy applies to them—or what it even means. And when strategy doesn’t sink in, alignment and momentum stall before they’ve even begun. Over time, this erodes trust and credibility, leaving teams sceptical that leadership can truly drive meaningful change.
This is the hard part of leadership. It’s not just about creating a plan; it’s about creating the space for others to absorb it, understand it, and believe in it, so you can then hold everyone accountable to it.
If we want to lead boldly, let’s start by slowing down just enough to help our teams catch up. This is how strategy turns into action—and action turns into results.
In practice
We partnered with a media agency to roll out what I called an “evolution of their strategy but a revolution in their behaviors.”
Here’s how we made it stick:
* Aligning the Leadership Team: We started by working with their Executive team to align on direction using our Strategy Pyramid. Together, we clarified their mission/vision, defined their strategy statement, identified three key bets for the year, and outlined how their values would come to life through leadership behaviors.
* Bringing in Senior Management EARLY: Before the year came to a close we ran an offsite with the senior management team to ensure they had the space to build on, understand, and own the strategy. This gave them time to reflect, digest the strategy over the holidays, and return confident in the critical role they’d play in bringing it to life.
* Inspiring the Entire Organization: We rallied the whole company together to ensure alignment, understanding and clarity on what needed to be different. We then designed a company-wide away day. Through fun and engaging team-based activities, we brought the strategy to life, helping every department understand what it meant for them and how they could own it.
The Result? The strategy didn’t just live on slides—it became something real, something tangible, and something every team member could see themselves in.
Lesson learned: Strategy alone doesn’t create momentum. It’s the work of aligning people, behaviors, and energy around it that truly drives change.
Feature: Laurence Honderick on why strategy is more than a buzzword.
On the Overtime Leader podcast, we joined Laurence Honderick—a former founder turned brand designer and strategy leader.
What’s the episode about?
Strategy is one of those words we hear all the time—but often misunderstand. Laurence shares how, when done right, strategy cuts through noise, creates alignment, and drives real impact.
Here’s what we dive into:
• Why strategy often gets a bad reputation (and how to fix it).
• How strategy can guide behaviors, not just decisions.
• Why leaders should think of strategy as a story that unfolds, not a static plan.
Laurence has a way of making strategy feel fresh, actionable, and surprisingly exciting.
🎙️Watch the full episode here.
Top Tip
Activate a reset.
Leadership teams align their priorities by focusing on three critical lenses:
* ROI (Commercial Lens): Defines the measurable outcomes of success (e.g., revenue, market share, profitability).
* Impact (Legacy Lens): Clarifies the long-term difference the work will make for employees, customers, or the industry.
* Pride (Fulfillment Lens): Focuses on what will make the team proud (intrinsically)—what will motivate them and feel meaningful throughout the journey.
The OTL Ambition Map helps leadership teams create clarity, build trust, and align not just on the “what” of the strategy, but the “why” behind it.
Celebrate Leadership Excellence
Six years ago, I was in the thick of it with two scale-ups that had just raised Series A funding. Both companies were ambitious, full of energy and growing fast. But, they were struggling with the same issue.
Managers who’d been promoted into leadership roles without the tools, training, or clarity to thrive.
The executive teams were stretched thin—focused on strategy, boards, and the next round of funding. HR was drowning in hiring. And leadership development? It just wasn’t on the radar.
Something needed to change.
So, I built the Scale-Up Leadership Program: A practical, fast-paced program designed for growing companies and the leaders at the heart of them.
It gave managers what they needed most:
• 14 weeks of actionable learning.
• 7 modules that turned theory into practice.
• 5 playbooks for tackling real-world challenges.
• Over 20 tools and frameworks they could use immediately.
And here’s the part that keeps me going: that first cohort told me they still use what they learned, even now, years later.
This program has always been personal to me. It’s about creating better leaders, faster. It’s about impact and practicality. And it’s about making leadership development accessible to the people who need it most.
That’s why, after years of running it live, we took the leap and made it available online.
If you are (or if you know) a leader who is ready to level up, this is for you.
Here’s to creating more great leaders—and to scaling with purpose.
Time for change?
Leadership isn’t just about managing change—it’s about designing it.
At OverTime Leader, we equip teams with the tools and strategies to navigate pivotal moments, align around shared goals, and deliver focused impact
If you’re ready to create lasting change, let’s talk.
