A business can be busy, growing, and profitable while still having no clear idea where it is going
New customers arrive, employees solve problems, and opportunities continue appearing. From the outside, the business looks successful. Inside, however, different people may have completely different ideas about what the company is trying to become
The owner wants to enter a new market. Sales wants to pursue larger customers. Operations wants to improve delivery. Employees are focused on getting through the week
None of those goals is necessarily wrong, but they may not be moving the business in the same direction
A business without a clear direction can work incredibly hard without making meaningful progress
I have helped businesses define their North Star and set a clearer direction for where they want to go. The exercise does not need to be complicated, but it does require leaders to step away from the daily pressures of the business and answer a few important questions
Before deciding what to do next, you need to know what you are trying to build
What is a North Star?
Think about setting the course for a ship
Before adjusting the sails or deciding how fast to travel, the crew needs to know the destination. Without that destination, the ship may keep moving, but there is no way to know whether it is moving in the right direction
A North Star plays the same role in a business. It describes the future you are trying to create and explains why that future matters. It is not the full strategy. The strategy will eventually define the choices, investments, and actions required to reach that destination
The North Star comes first. It gives those choices a common direction
A useful North Star should answer three questions:
Where are we going
Why are we going there
What do we expect to improve as a result
These questions may sound simple, but many businesses struggle to answer them clearly. They can describe this year’s revenue target, the customers they want to win, or the problems they need to solve, but those things do not always explain what the business is trying to become
A target tells people what you want to achieve. A North Star tells them what you are building toward
Make the direction clear
A good North Star should be specific enough to guide decisions but simple enough for people to remember
It should describe what part of the business needs to change, what the improved business will look like, and what that change will make possible
A simple structure is:
We are transforming [part of the business] to create a more [desired future state], which will allow us to [business outcome] without [important trade-off]
For example:
We are improving our people, processes, and ways of working to create a more adaptable and effective business, which will allow us to pursue new growth opportunities and deliver stronger performance without adding unnecessary cost
This statement is not meant to sound clever. It is meant to create clarity
It explains that the business wants to improve how it operates, become more adaptable, pursue growth, and avoid adding unnecessary cost
That direction can then help the business evaluate decisions. Does this new hire improve the capabilities we need? Does this project make the business more effective? Does this opportunity support the kind of growth we want?
The North Star will not make every decision for you, but it should make it easier to recognize which decisions move the business forward
If your North Star could describe almost any business, it is probably still too vague
Make sure people understand it
A North Star is only useful if other people can understand it
Leaders often assume the direction is clear because they have spent weeks discussing it. Employees may hear the final statement once during a meeting and then be expected to understand what it means
The simplest test is to ask someone else to explain it back to you
Can they describe where the business is going? Can they explain why the change matters? Can they connect their own work to the future you are trying to create?
If their explanation is completely different from yours, the statement may be too complicated or unclear
This does not mean every employee needs to repeat the exact words. In fact, it is better if they can describe the direction naturally in their own language
The goal is shared understanding, not memorization
Your North Star is clear when people throughout the business can explain the same direction in their own words
Once that direction is understood, the next step is deciding what the business will prioritize, what it will stop doing, and how it will move toward the destination
That is where strategy begins
Your Better by Monday action
Take 20 minutes and write a North Star for your business using this template:
We are transforming [part of the business] to create a more [desired future state], which will allow us to [business outcome] without [important trade-off]
Then test it against three questions:
Does it clearly explain where the business is going
Does it explain why that direction matters
Could an employee understand and repeat it
Share it with one person in your business and ask them to explain what it means in their own words
If their answer is different from yours, simplify the statement and try again
The goal is not to write the perfect North Star by Monday. It is to give your business a clearer direction than it had last week
What North Star did you create for your business? Hit reply and send it to me, I read every response
~Alex
Until next time …
One practical way to improve your business each week