Far too often, people experience strategic planning as a wasted activity-painful, unproductive, and irrelevant to the issues at hand. And once planning is done, the product usually gets put on a shelf, never to be looked at again.

The Executive Guide to Facilitating Strategy provides executives, leaders and facilitators with a step-by-step resource for guiding their team through all phases of the strategic planning process - from gaining the team's buy-in to do planning and identify strategic issues, all the way through organization alignment, implementation, monitoring and making adjustments.

This book delivers the Drivers Model, a powerful tool to help you facilitate your organization through the development of a strategic plan from start to finish, whether you lead a corporation, government agency, non-profit organization, business unit, department, or team. The Drivers Model is a simple but dynamic process that covers the seven key principles for masterful planning, from thoroughly identifying critical issues to establishing a rigorous process for driving successful implementation.

You'll also discover -

• The 10 common planning pitfalls and how to avoid them;
• How to facilitate your team through mission and vision creation;
• Strategies for setting measurable targets and deciding priorities;
• How to use critical success factors and barriers to focus your plan;
• Techniques for moving your values from a plaque on the wall to serving as a guide for decision-making every day; and
• A process for monitoring progress and promoting positive accountability.

The book is chock-full of tools and techniques and includes over 400 examples of mission statements, goals, guiding principles, strategies, agendas, and process checklists. Experienced practitioners will especially like the quality checks included for each component of the plan so that you can be sure that what you create is effective and thorough.
In summary, The Executive Guide to Facilitating Strategy guides you in your role as an effective facilitator of change by providing you a proven framework that you can use immediately in just about any kind of planning you may need to do.

Early Praise for The Effective Guide to Facilitating Strategy

"Great facilitation produces real commitment to solving problems and to advancing your organization. That's why we put special emphasis on the Drivers Model as we train our next generation of leaders. This book is like having an executive MBA program in facilitating strategy at your disposal. Michael Wilkinson is a master facilitator and a world-class teacher."
-Mark O'Connell, Director, Advanced Leadership Program, United Way Movement

"As the leading CEO membership organization in the world, we know firsthand that when it comes to meeting tough challenges or realizing high aspirations for your business, a solid strategic framework is an invaluable asset. The Drivers Model will get you where you want to go!"
-Ruby L. Randall, President and Chief Operating Officer, Vistage International, Inc.

"The Drivers Model is a great business tool for nonprofits to develop strategic direction for their organizations. I have used the Drivers Model for over fifteen years both as a leader of an association and chief executive of a non-profit. Simply put, it works."
-Wayne McMillan, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bobby Dodd Institute

"Michael Wilkinson provides a refreshing and systematic way of approaching the critical and painful task of defining our strategies. His latest book zeroes in on an oft-overlooked aspect of strategy development-the leader's role. It is mandatory reading for my strategy team."
-Steve Bushkuhl, Downstream Chief of Staff, Saudi Aramco