The ad's text said the company needed a Vice President for Strategic Planning. To me, the ad conveyed a different message. It said that this company did not understand strategic planning. Reading the ad, I envisioned an organization with a CEO who is very busy doing things that may or may not really relate to the company's mission and wants someone to do the work necessary to create a big, complicated plan that includes all the latest buzz words. Experience tells me that whoever takes this job will find himself in an office with little support. In spite of a lot of platitudes, this person will find they are always number two on the priority list; behind everyone else. This person needs to keep their resume polished because when the company falls on hard times, they will be one of the first to go, hearing words like, "A luxury we just can't afford right now you see."

Why such a negative view you ask? After all, isn't it good that this company wants bring strategic planning into the C-suite? Yes, that's terrific. The problem is, by creating a separate office the company is missing the key point of strategic planning. It is the foundation upon which everything in the organization is based. A large company will probably have several vice presidents. There will be one for operations, marketing, R & D, and maybe human resources. All of these executives should be working toward goals to accomplish a mission that is laid out in the strategic plan. The strategic plan is not co-equal with the marketing plan, or the operations plan. It is the basis for those plans.

Well, if there shouldn't be an executive position for strategic planning, then who is responsible for it? If there isn't a vice president for strategic planning, then the only other place for the responsibility to fall is the CEO! That's exactly where the responsibility should be. This is one of the most important jobs for a senior executive. A good strategic plan provides the basis for everything else by defining why the organization exists, what it does, and how it does it. The plan spells out the goals that will make the organization successful. It tells everyone what is important to that success. Is that really something a leader wants to leave to a subordinate?

Senior leaders should ask themselves two very important questions.

1. Why don't I have time to be the strategic planning officer in my organization? What am I doing that's more important than planning the future of the company, then seeing it through?

2. Who in this organization is better suited than I to be in charge of the plan that is the foundation for the organization's future? If there is someone, should they have my job?

A bit harsh perhaps, but that's how important this is.

PLAN - LEAD - EXCEL