In this insightful episode, Isabel Alexander continues her exploration of strategic planning, focusing on the vital element of accountability. She underscores the transformative power of accountability as an intrinsic, internalized commitment to achieving results. Drawing from her own experiences and coaching insights, Isabel challenges the conventional notion of being held accountable by others, emphasizing that true accountability is a self-driven, results-oriented endeavor.

Isabel delves into the intricacies of assigning accountability within the strategic planning process, providing actionable tips for business owners. She encourages a shift in perspective, where goals are set realistically, and individuals take ownership with a genuine belief in their attainability. The episode serves as a valuable guide for entrepreneurs seeking to navigate the often misunderstood terrain of accountability, stressing that the key to success lies in consistently measuring and adapting based on the outcomes of intentional actions.

As Isabel shares anecdotes from her coaching journey, listeners gain practical insights into creating a strategic plan that goes beyond being a static document, evolving into a dynamic roadmap for continual growth. The importance of stakeholders in an entrepreneur's life is explored, highlighting the interconnected relationships that can fuel success or, if neglected, pose challenges.

Join Isabel in this episode for a deep dive into the world of accountability within strategic planning. Learn how to cultivate a mindset of ownership, navigate the complexities of business relationships, and ensure that your strategic plan becomes a living, breathing guide for sustained success.

About the Host:

 

Isabel Alexander

Your Next Business Strategist and Transformation Catalyst

 Isabel Alexander's journey from modest beginnings to global recognition epitomizes entrepreneurial resilience and innovation. With over five decades of experience spanning diverse industries, she has become a driving force in shaping economic landscapes worldwide. Noteworthy accomplishments include founding a multimillion-dollar global chemical wholesale business and earning accolades such as Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women.

As a mentor and advocate, Isabel empowers women entrepreneurs through initiatives like the Lift As You Climb Movement and podcasts, guiding them from startup to maturity. Serving as Chief Encore Officer of The Encore Catalyst, she dedicates herself to coaching and educating emerging entrepreneurs. Her involvement in organizations like RenegadesReinventing.com and Femme on Fire underscores her commitment to leadership and business development.

Additionally, Isabel's advisory roles with government bodies and trade associations, such as Chair of the Canadian Association of Importers & Exporters, highlight her influence in shaping trade policies and fostering international relations.

Driven by her mantra, "Lift As You Climb," Isabel embodies the ethos of mutual growth and empowerment. With dual citizenship in Canada and the United States, she values her extensive family and embraces global connections through travel and professional engagements. Isabel Alexander's narrative serves as a beacon of inspiration, illustrating how visionary leadership and strategic advising can drive global entrepreneurship and economic independence forward.

Founder:

The Encore Catalyst Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/TheEncoreCatalyst )

and

Chief Encore Officer, The Encore Catalyst (www.theencorecatalyst.com) – an accelerator for feminine wisdom, influence, and impact.

also

Author & Speaker ‘Who Am I Now? – Feminine Wisdom Unmasked Uncensored’ https://whoaminowbook.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabelannalexander/

 

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To register for a coaching with Isabel

Isabel: 00:00:03

Hello, I'm Isabel Alexander.

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Continuing this conversation as we approach the end of a calendar year

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about how we make next year a better, more rewarding, more fulfilling,

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more financial certain year.

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And there's only one answer.

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That's why we are continuing to talk about strategic planning.

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In fact, if the plan isn't strategic, then you better take a pause on that and

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think about what are you planning to do?

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Strategic is a positive direction and perspective to think about.

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If I wanted this, then I must do that.

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It's connecting the dots forward.

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In terms of, this is where I want to get to, this is the experience I want

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to have, this is the person I want to become, this is the capabilities and

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the resources that I wish to acquire.

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And then breaking it down as to, okay, what do you got to do to be

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able to accomplish those things?

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So strategic planning perhaps is a word or a term that, as a small business, Even

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a medium sized business or solopreneur or someone who's entrepreneurial within

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an organization they don't own, but they're contributing to the success of

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that organization, then understanding, embracing, enjoying, appreciating, and

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celebrating the advantages of thinking strategically and following through

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on the plan is a beautiful thing.

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In the past four episodes of this podcast, I've broken down some of the elements that

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I learned, experienced, applied, and grew because I learned from Verne Harnish's

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methodology, which is explained in a book called Mastering the Rockefeller Habits.

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It's not what anybody else wants, but when you allow yourself to pause in

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that quiet moment and say, what do I want my business to do for me, my

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family, the people I care most about?

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What is it that I want my business to say about me?

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It's what I want my business to be able to empower, to enable me to do personally,

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professionally, aspirationally then that's the important thing going forward.

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We've been reviewing the strategic plan as a one bite at a time of the elephant

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to enable us to get what we want out of our lives and our business impact.

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I encourage you to go back and listen to those last couple of episodes

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if you're just joining us now.

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And, of course, I would love it if after listening to that content you

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thought, there's some value here ,that you subscribe to this channel

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either as a podcast or as a YouTube video, whichever is your preference.

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And if you know of other friends, business owners, maybe they're

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your customers, maybe they're your suppliers, or maybe they're your

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subcontractors, that could benefit, and directly and indirectly benefit you by

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understanding a strategic plan and how to apply it to get good results, then

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please share this content with them.

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And I thank you ahead of time for that.

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Because I'd like to reach more entrepreneurs, particularly more

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women entrepreneurs, and help them increase the rewards they get from

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their businesses, and the impact that they leave, the legacy they leave.

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Today I want to go back a little bit and talk a bit more about

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accountability, because as I have been recording these episodes, I've

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also been refining, revising my own strategic plan for the upcoming year.

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And it was an interesting, the universe delivers, right?

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When the student's ready, the teacher will appear.

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In another coaching program that I am in.

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And that's part of my strategic plan, my own personal and professional development.

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I invest time and money in other areas with experts that I look up to

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and who will lift me as they climb.

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As a result of one of these coaching programs that I'm involved in, and

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I'm involved in several, and yes, that does require some planning to manage

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my time to get the best out of all of this and still deliver to my clients.

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I had the opportunity to be exposed to a different way of looking at

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strategic planning, and that is to dice it up into 12 week segments.

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I learned a different perspective on accountability.

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and I like it a lot.

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That accountability perhaps has been misinterpreted misappropriated as a

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word, as a meaning, as in needing to be held accountable for something,

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as in someone else outside of us.

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will hold us accountable for our actions, our results.

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The truth is, that doesn't work.

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Only we can be accountable for ourselves.

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And that accountability is very much an inside job.

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Accountability is the measurement of the result from the actions that we took.

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Or didn't take.

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So in thinking of when you're creating your strategic plan and your objectives

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and assigning accountability, like the first chair for that particular

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initiative, think about it in that context, instead of somebody else

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having to be there checking up on, approving or disapproving of what

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happens and the accounted for results.

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Think about it as that is definitely ownership by the individual.

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that is responsible for that.

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And if you're a solopreneur, often it's you, right?

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So be very careful about what you choose as important goals and priorities,

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because if you choose too many, You're setting yourself up for failure.

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It is far better to have a big vision and BHAGS, big hairy audacious goals,

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as we talked about in a previous episode, but set up the shorter term goals and

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actions with an expectation of success.

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You really believe that you can achieve, and then you go do it.

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Because the idea of having a strategic plan might sound kind of sexy, yeah, I

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got one, I wrote it, it's really pretty, and then you put it away after you do

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all that work, and you don't actually go back and say, oh, I have made progress.

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Yes, I did it.

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I achieved what I wanted to, or you had milestone markers that

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you visited and said, okay we're not on course for that, or maybe

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we're ahead of it, whatever it is.

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That it's adjusting what you're doing in business in a real honest to god,

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accountable to yourself, No Bullshit.

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It's, I said I wanted this.

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And I am entitled to have this, but it's up to me, myself, and

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I to have the discipline to create the steps, the action, the

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measurabilities to accomplish it.

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And that's the, ooh, the 'un-girly' stuff, perhaps, that some of us might

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say, oh shit, that's really not much fun.

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I think there is a bigger difference, I think, in my experience, that men

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in business set a goal, and they believe they deserve to achieve it.

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And they just go blindly with the expectation of having it.

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Women entrepreneurs, not so much.

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Although I'm very glad that is changing.

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And it's changing because of these kinds of conversations where business

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people like me and you are sharing candidly, honestly, what worked.

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And what did not work, and changing the paradigms, changing our attitudes,

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and changing our expectations about outcomes based on what we actually do.

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Accountability.

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An inside job.

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Please consider that when you're creating your strategic plan, that in the areas

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of the goals that you have identified, who really is taking ownership of

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that, and there will be No Excuses?

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There will be adjustments where required, but the action, the evidence must be

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there that they made every positive move forward to accomplish that goal.

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It has become my life experience and I've got witnesses on this all

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over the place, that it isn't just about you and your business and the

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plan and the success you have, but it's about every single stakeholder

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that is affected by your decision.

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Stakeholders, again, one of those really old time terms, but I frame

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it in the perspective of everyone who has a stake in the outcome, the

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evolution, the success or the failure of your leadership as a business owner.

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You, obviously, as the chief shareholder, are number one stakeholder

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on the list, and then your partners.

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If you have them, your staff, if you have them, your contractors, if you

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have them, and you better have some because then I would also refer you

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to reading another one of my favorite business books, and that's Dan Sullivan

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and Benjamin Hardy's Who, Not How.

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But staying on the topic of stakeholders also include your suppliers.

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your customers, your family, your friends, your service providers.

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your banker, your technology firm, your lawyer, your accountant, anybody

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who has a responsibility, a benefit, anybody who is somehow impacted by your

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business is a stakeholder to some extent.

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Think about this, that if you create a plan, consider them in the areas they

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can impact and they will be impacted by.

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As a woman, I experienced this myself, thinking about my family and my closest

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friends and my community obligations as stakeholders, made me think about how

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do I manage the time that I have, the energy I have, the capacity, the resources

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I have to still serve them as well?

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Engaging the people that are in your orbit, whether they're in the inner

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circle or a medium or outer ring, adds more energy, adds additional fuel to

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your success, and if you don't, one of those, if they feel underserved,

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distressed, annoyed, can knock you off your orbit by acting up a bit.

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It's something I talk a lot more deeply with my clients, my one on one clients,

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is figuring out who is in your cast and crew and how do they factor into

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your new script that you're writing.

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Writing a script with the Encore methodology is very much like writing

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an annual strategic plan and so there's definitely personalities involved to

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be considered and make the best of.

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Okay, so for today I'm going to add to your thoughts as

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you're creating, refining.

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editing your strategic plan, which, by the way, you should regularly be

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reviewing it and making sure that you're continually moving in the

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right direction for the right reasons.

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Remember, The Accountability, who's involved and how you make sure that

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they have ownership and know that it is an inside job for success!

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And that no plan means no party!

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And the party would be attended by all your stakeholders and the stakeholders

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are a broad category, but they all do have an impact on an entrepreneur's life.

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I hope this has given you some good juicy stuff to think about and create absolutely

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the perfect plan for your success.

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Looking forward to coming back and sharing a little more about strategic

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planning in the next episode.

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And That one will definitely be a celebration because I'll share some of

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my story and how my real life example and that of my clients are based on this

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simple process of a one page, elegant, perfect sized, strategic plan methodology.

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Ciao for now!