Listening to the Four Voices of Strategy

The following is adapted from Values-Based Organizations by Dr. Thomas Epperson.

Strategic planning isn’t just about predicting the future—it’s about learning from the past and understanding the present. A good plan looks inward and outward, collecting data that tells the real story of your organization.

That story starts with the voice of the money. Financial data is the easiest to get and often the loudest voice in the room. Whether your key metric is net revenue, EBIDTA, or total dollars raised, your numbers are speaking to you. What are they saying? Are you growing, plateauing, or slipping? The financial story gives you a foundation for understanding where you’ve been and where you might be headed.

Next, listen to the voice of the customer. What do your clients, donors, or users think about what you offer? Don’t rely solely on survey dashboards—talk to people. Even if you’re far removed from sales, you should know how your organization is perceived. Look at retention data, customer churn, or net promoter scores. Ask open questions. And remember: most people won’t tell you to your face that your “baby is ugly,” but they will tell others. Make it safe for people to be honest, because polite silence is far more dangerous than constructive criticism.

Then, turn inward to the voice of the employees. How do your people feel? Do they believe in your mission? Do they plan to stay? Conversations matter as much as metrics like turnover and engagement scores. Lead with curiosity and resist the urge to defend. Fear kills creativity faster than any budget cut, and fear often silences the insights leaders most need to hear.

It’s also worth remembering that every employee population shares two truths: everyone wants to make more money, and everyone thinks communication could be better. These aren’t problems to “fix” once and for all—they’re constants to be managed with empathy and clarity.

Finally, listen to the voice of the outside world. What’s changing in the economy, your industry, or your supply chain? What are your regulators and investors thinking? A quick lunch with a vendor or banker can teach you more about market trends than a week of reading reports.

The real danger in strategy isn’t a lack of data—it’s the illusion that you already know enough. We all have blind spots. Kodak invented the digital camera and ignored what it meant. The French trusted the Maginot Line while the Germans went around it. The best leaders question their assumptions and invite more voices to the table.

Because the smartest strategy doesn’t come from the loudest voice in your head—it comes from listening to all the others.

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For more insights on strategic leadership, find Values-Based Organizations on Amazon.

THOMAS EPPERSON works at Luck Companies, the oldest family-held and family-led aggregate company in the United States, and the InnerWill Leadership Institute, Luck Companies’ nonprofit that teaches leaders how to build Values Based Organizations that ignite human potential. With a doctorate in leadership from The George Washington University and over twenty years of experience as a leadership coach, facilitator, and speaker, Dr. Epperson has helped transform hundreds of organizations.