A vision without a plan is just a dream. A plan without a vision is just drudgery. But a vision with a plan can change the world. —Old Proverb
A strategic plan helps individuals and organizations determine where they stand, where they wish to go and how they plan to get there. By focusing on the big picture, long-term planning creates an opportunity for people to design their lives.
As coaches, we help people become the authors of their lives and create their ideal future. How do we support them to choose actions that are aligned with their values, vision and purpose? How do they prioritize their goals and action plans? How do they allocate their resources? What strategies help them to take leadership and be the change they wish to see in the world?
A strategic plan includes a map with the final destination and directions on how to get where we’re going. Whole-life strategic planning starts with the values, vision and purpose work explored earlier, which help us see our destiny. Once we have clarity about what’s compelling, we look at our whole life, assessing our satisfaction with each area using the balance wheel. Aft er comparing where we are with where we want to go, we close the gap by designing goals, action plans and support systems to create our ideal lives. Action plans naturally evolve from values, vision, purpose and balance wheel work. The diagram below shows the relationships of these various pieces.
This map is useful for supporting people to review their whole life and plan accordingly. We start with exploring values, vision and purpose. From that energized perspective, we move into creating balance, establishing goals and creating an ideal support system.
Excerpt from Coaching for Transformation by Lasley, Kellogg, Michaels and Brown.
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