Articulate Vision and Strategic Objectives

Set your long-term destination and define 3-5 strategic objectives that break the vision into tangible goals. These objectives will serve as the backbone for planning, prioritization, and tracking progress across teams.

Why it's Matters

Your vision sets the direction. Your strategic objectives connect that direction to execution. A clear vision gives teams purpose; actionable objectives give them focus. Without both, execution becomes fragmented or misaligned.

What You Need to Do

Define your long-term destination: where are you headed? what change are you creating in the market?
Translate that into 3-5 strategic objectives for the next 12-24 months
Use them as the foundation for planning, prioritization, and progress reviews

How to Approach It

Write a compelling but clear vision statement:

Think 3-5 years ahead — not your valuation, but your impact
Example: “Become the default platform for X across Y market.”

Define no more than 5 strategic objectives that support the vision:

These are not metrics — they’re themes like:
- “Expand into new customer segment”
- “Achieve operational excellence in onboarding”
- “Build ecosystem partnerships”

Each objective should be specific enough to inform goals:

Avoid “grow revenue” unless you say how
Each one should drive prioritization across product, GTM, hiring, etc.

Ensure alignment across functions:

Run a short workshop: “Does each team know how they contribute to these objectives?”
If not, you’ll face downstream friction and confusion

Deliverables

Vision statement (1-2 sentences)
3-5 strategic objectives for the next 12-24 months
Optional: visual alignment map (strategy tree, priorities map, etc.)

How to Tell if You Got It Right

Everyone on the exec team can name the vision and key objectives

Teams are using them to guide planning and trade-offs

Your roadmap ladders up —not just horizontally, but toward the vision

What to Watch Out For

Confusing goals (like OKRs) with strategic objectives
Creating objectives in a vacuum —without team or market input
Having too many —spreading teams thin across disconnected themes
Vision that’s just a slogan, not a direction