I’ve applied to a position that centers around planning and performance, and find myself revisiting some of the core talents and values shaping my work over the years. Thinking about stepping into this work full-time has reminded me how lit up I get when collaborating with leaders and teams to clarify the north star we’re moving toward. What are we trying to achieve? How do we get there in a way that supports our people? How do we ensure our metrics have meaning?

There’s a unique satisfaction that comes when you see strategy, measurement, and human experience connect. It creates not just clarity, but energy. Teams begin speaking the same language, sharing a vision, and supporting one another in ways that feel cohesive and fulfilling. That’s when performance becomes more than a target, it becomes a shared pursuit of excellence.

Line of Sight

At the heart of planning and performance is one simple but powerful concept: line of sight.
People need to see how their day-to-day work contributes to organizational goals. That connection is what transforms intent into real progress.

I often start by translating big-picture goals into outcomes that reflect the realities of the work. It’s about answering the question: How will we know we’re making a difference? When individuals can see their contribution clearly, motivation and accountability naturally follow.

Alignment isn’t something you enforce; it’s something you build through clarity and shared ownership. That clarity is what turns performance data into something meaningful.

Make It Repeatable and Understandable

Excellence isn’t just defined by our results, but by the consistency and sustainability of how we achieve them. That’s where leading and lagging indicators come in.

Lagging indicators tell us what happened: client satisfaction, project delivery rates, financial results. Leading indicators tell us what’s likely to happen: engagement levels, process adherence, collaboration frequency.

When we measure both, we move from a reactive place to a proactive one. It’s not just about reporting on success but about cultivating repeatable, understandable behaviors and systems for the people driving it.

Data as a Shared Language

For many teams, data can feel distant, something owned by analysts or executives. I’ve found that the real power comes when we create our measures together and make them accessible.

Measurement literacy helps people interpret data in plain language and connect it to their everyday decisions. When data becomes a shared language, teams don’t just comply with reporting expectations; they use the information to learn, improve, and celebrate progress.

When teams understand reporting as a shared language, they find meaning in it as not just numbers but signals of progress, learning, and pride.

Building Strategy In

The organizations that excel are the ones that turn planning into built-in routines that keep performance visible and adaptive.

That might mean integrating data discussions into monthly huddles, quarterly reviews, or leadership check-ins. It’s less about producing more reports, and more about creating spaces for reflection: What’s working? Where are we off track? What needs to change?

These structured conversations turn data into dialogue and metrics into meaning. They keep strategy alive in the day-to-day, grounded in the people doing the work.

People are the key

None of this works without people who feel informed, supported, and invested, and a people-first approach doesn’t soften performance, it strengthens it. It ensures that our systems and metrics serve the humans behind them, not the other way around. It removes the mystery around sometimes dreaded ‘reporting’, that often teams don’t see until there is a problem – even though it is their own work in the report.

That’s how we make strategy human, by remembering that performance starts with people. When teams feel connected to the “why,” they bring creativity, care, and ownership to the “how.” That’s where cultures of excellence grow, not through pressure but through purpose.

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I’ve felt firsthand the energy and pride that teams co-create when we’ve got our priorities right. It’s no coincidence that those periods stand out as my most rewarding work experiences, when alignment, purpose, and collaboration all come together.

As I step into a new phase of my own career journey, I’ve been reflecting on what makes that feeling possible. For me, it lives at the intersection of strategy, innovation, and great human experiences, creating the conditions where people do their best work while contributing to something larger. For me, that’s what making strategy human is all about, finding meaning in the metrics, and purpose in the progress we make together.