Planning To Succeed In 2025 - The Annual Strategic Planning Session Every Owner Should Do

[00:00:00] I want to make note that it's important to dream without limitation. So a lot of people get in there and they're like, yeah, but what if all things were true? What if we could just do anything? What if we had a magic wand? Let's just get out of the realm of what you think reality is for a second. Let's think about what abracadabra, what could we do? Then we can transition into like, okay, what would need to be true to be able to do that? That's a different conversation. So making sure you're distinct there, I think is important.

[00:00:31] Welcome. You've entered the Physical Therapy Owners Club podcast, where your host, Nathan Shields and other successful PT owners and leaders share their experience and insights on how to build successful PT businesses. They'll share the stories of their paths to success and show you how you can also obtain greater freedom and more profits from your business. That's what the PT Owners Club is all about. Greater freedom and more profits. There's plenty of room for you as well. So come on in and join the company.

[00:01:04] Hello, and welcome to the private practice owners club. Nathan Shields. And I got my partner, Adam Robin with me. Good to see you, Adam.

[00:01:12] What's up, Nathan? What's up, man?

[00:01:14] Hey, so we were anxious to get this podcast down ASAP because we're in the fourth quarter, 2024. And as we were talking about topics for the podcast, there are a number of things that we want to still, topics we want to cover, right?

[00:01:28] We still want to talk about the role of the CEO, talking about break-evens, highlighting other people who are succeeding in their companies and stuff like that.

[00:01:38] We're like, man, it's quarter four. We really need to dive into what people are doing to address the new year.

[00:01:44] Because now is the time to prepare for making the next year, and in this case, 2025, super successful.

[00:01:53] Well, if you think about the most successful companies in the nation, in the world, they've probably done all of their strategic planning for next year already.

[00:02:00] And so we probably need to take a little bit of that magic and implement it into our small businesses and start focusing on what we really want to achieve in the next year.

[00:02:08] And so that's why we wanted to put together this podcast and get it out of ASAP is because now is the time.

[00:02:14] And so today's topic is going to be along the lines of annual strategic planning and the importance of it and what some of that can look like.

[00:02:22] Before we get into it, give me some of your thoughts about annual strategic plans.

[00:02:27] Well, it's been really awesome to be able to work with a bunch of coaching clients and talk to them and hear how they think and just like get the most out of people.

[00:02:36] And I've had a blast because I learned so much.

[00:02:40] I learned so much about the way people think.

[00:02:44] And what I'm starting to recognize is that my opinion is that the most valuable skill that an owner or a leader can have is the ability to stop, plan, and then execute.

[00:03:02] The ability to do that with consistency and to be able to deliver something meaningful with clarity to the team over and over is probably the best skill that you can have.

[00:03:15] And so I remember the first time you told me to do an annual strategic plan.

[00:03:19] And I was like, that's a lot of work and a lot of time, and I don't want to do that.

[00:03:24] But I just did it anyway because you were a lot more successful than me, and you just said you should probably try it.

[00:03:29] And it was a habit of the successful.

[00:03:32] And once I committed to that, that was one of the things that really, really just helped me not just transform my business, but transform my life and the way that I show up every single day.

[00:03:40] And it's just a really powerful skill set and something that every great owner should consider.

[00:03:47] Just consider.

[00:03:48] They need to do it.

[00:03:49] Yeah.

[00:03:50] And to speak to your point about talking with plenty of owners, these are small business owners, usually with relatively smaller clinics.

[00:03:58] But I'm sure there's a consistent personality trait in which most of us that are entrepreneurial minded have, and that is we have the shiny object syndrome.

[00:04:08] And we'll attack it, address it, and maybe even carry it down the road a little bit.

[00:04:14] And if we do that enough times, then our teams can get a little bit overwhelmed and be like, oh, what's the next new shiny project that we're going to focus on?

[00:04:24] Because this will last another two or three months, and then we're on to the next thing, right?

[00:04:27] So they're going to get some whiplash.

[00:04:30] And the beauty of the strategic plan is to help provide focus and direction for the year.

[00:04:39] And ideally, you are not only establishing it in Q4, but then returning back to it on a monthly basis at a minimum to be like, wait, what are our priorities?

[00:04:51] And why are we introducing this new program if it doesn't fit?

[00:04:56] Let's stick to the plan, stick to the focus.

[00:04:59] And knowing that we've already figured out where the vision is, we don't have to add more to it.

[00:05:04] We know what that painting looks like in our minds before we start painting.

[00:05:08] So let's not add any of the strokes or colors.

[00:05:11] Let's just drive the path that we've already designated.

[00:05:14] It takes a little bit of brain work on the front end, right?

[00:05:17] Some dedicated time, like you said, to stop and make some decisions and then act.

[00:05:22] But once you take the time to plan, prioritize, and set the goals, that takes a lot of brain work out of the rest of the year.

[00:05:34] Like you don't have to find the next thing.

[00:05:37] You don't need to decide in the moment, hmm, what do I need to focus on today?

[00:05:43] Because that was already decided back in Q4 of the year before.

[00:05:46] So it saves so much time, energy.

[00:05:49] And if you have any measure of leadership, whether it's one, two, three, four leaders in your team, and they are part of that planning process,

[00:05:59] now you've got an aligned team that knows where the company is going and they're not reliant upon you to give them the vision day after day, week after week, month after month with all the meetings.

[00:06:12] We've already bought into the vision that we established back in Q4.

[00:06:16] And that saves a lot of time, energy, and brings complete alignment and focus from the team, which is super powerful.

[00:06:23] And that's the beauty of it.

[00:06:24] And it is absolutely necessary to get predicted, expected growth year over year.

[00:06:31] And it's a skill.

[00:06:33] It's like riding a bike.

[00:06:35] First time you get on a bike, you didn't start popping wheelies, right?

[00:06:38] You sucked at it, you know, plain and simple.

[00:06:42] And I don't mean to be harsh, guys, but I'm an intense dude.

[00:06:46] But the reason why you have the shiny object syndrome and you get focused is because you suck at planning.

[00:06:51] You suck at focus.

[00:06:53] It's not because your business is special.

[00:06:55] It's not because there's something wrong with you.

[00:06:57] It's just you're not used to using this type of thinking pattern and applying it into your business.

[00:07:03] And I know that because we've all been there.

[00:07:05] And so the first time you sit down to try to actually look at a piece of paper and flesh out your priorities, it's really hard.

[00:07:12] It's taxing because you've never done that before.

[00:07:15] But if you just give yourself some time, put some training wheels on, you know, and ride the bike around the block a few times, the next thing you know, you can take the training wheels off.

[00:07:26] And the next thing you know, you can start popping wheelies and you can start doing all kinds of fun stuff.

[00:07:30] And now you're an expert.

[00:07:30] And that is what a CEO does.

[00:07:33] That's what the skill set of a CEO is.

[00:07:36] So you can get better at this.

[00:07:39] You don't have to be crippled by the shiny object.

[00:07:41] You can dominate that stuff.

[00:07:43] You got to flex your muscles.

[00:07:45] You can flex your thinking muscles in a different way.

[00:07:49] Right.

[00:07:49] Yeah.

[00:07:50] And channel your focus.

[00:07:52] So this practice of annual strategic planning was something that had never crossed my path for the first probably eight years of ownership until I had a coach slash moderator that highly recommended it.

[00:08:07] And he said, I need two days with you guys.

[00:08:10] And this is me and Will at the time.

[00:08:13] And we're like, what are we possibly doing for two days?

[00:08:17] And within the first day, we're like, whoa, we hardly covered anything.

[00:08:21] It was a lot of conversation, deep dive into our business and all the opportunities that were out there.

[00:08:28] What are our strengths and weaknesses and threats?

[00:08:30] And if you've done this before, a SWOT analysis, but this is on a higher level.

[00:08:35] I used to do SWOT analyses and they would take me maybe half an hour to go through and just fill out the different quadrants.

[00:08:43] But no, this was an actual conversation.

[00:08:45] And also the beauty of having the moderator in front of us to guide us and direct us was to challenge us.

[00:08:53] And if it's just you and your team or a partner, especially in the physical therapy world, you might just be subject to saying, well, so-and-so is happening simply because that's how it is.

[00:09:10] In Arizona, we're slower in the summer seasons.

[00:09:13] And we all just come to accept it.

[00:09:15] And no one challenges us on something like that, where a moderator is like, why do you guys have to be slow in the summer?

[00:09:23] And we have all the canned excuses and we throw them out there.

[00:09:27] He's like, well, what if you just found a way around that and instituted some programs?

[00:09:33] And then we're left dumbfounded and we're like, well, yeah, maybe we should.

[00:09:38] And so having that person to lead out on our strategic planning sessions was huge.

[00:09:45] He was also a sounding board.

[00:09:47] He also provided feedback from experience in a separate industry altogether he came from.

[00:09:54] So he wasn't used to the vernacular and healthcare, but he provided feedback from a general business knowledge base.

[00:10:01] And it was huge.

[00:10:02] I mean, we had a clear roadmap of what we were doing next.

[00:10:06] And the fun part, as we started developing leadership teams and invited them into these annual strategic planning sessions, they got psyched.

[00:10:14] They were because they felt special at that point.

[00:10:18] They're like, wait, you're letting me peek behind the curtain and be with the special people to actually run this organization?

[00:10:25] We're like, yeah, you're a leader.

[00:10:27] They're like, yes.

[00:10:28] And they just soaked that stuff up.

[00:10:30] And when you get to the point where you have a leadership team in place and you do a strategic planning session and you determine what your top four or five priorities are for the year, the beauty of having your team is that now they are responsible for making sure those priorities and goals come to fruition.

[00:10:50] And that's why you're the true visionary.

[00:10:53] And that's why you're the true visionary and cast the vision and maintain the course of the organization while your leadership team is leading the organization itself.

[00:11:05] And making sure those priorities and making sure those priorities are being pushed down through the organization and met ultimately.

[00:11:11] So there was a real beauty behind that that we experienced in doing this.

[00:11:14] And I really don't want to belabor the point, but I guess we're talking a lot about it right now because so many people don't do it.

[00:11:22] Not because they choose not to sometimes, but because they don't know exactly what it is and what it entails.

[00:11:28] And so we just want to stress initially and how important it is, especially at this time of the year.

[00:11:34] But to get into it, where would you recommend people start if they're thinking about having or doing a annual strategic plan planning session?

[00:11:44] So Traction, the book Traction, Gino Wickman, I know we've referenced that book many times.

[00:11:51] Chapter three, I believe, is the vision component.

[00:11:55] And that can give you a very, very, very bullet pointed high level view of what it might look like.

[00:12:02] So I think that that's a really good place to start.

[00:12:07] But maybe even more important, I think that one thing that I like to do, Nathan, and I don't know if you do something like this for you and your companies.

[00:12:17] Towards the end of the year in mid-December, I like to just go.

[00:12:21] Just go.

[00:12:22] Get out of Dodge.

[00:12:23] Go grab a room somewhere really, really nice.

[00:12:27] Maybe it's the mountains or the beach or whatever it is.

[00:12:29] The lake, you and your spouse.

[00:12:32] And just go out there and decompress and dream a little bit.

[00:12:37] What would really be fun next year?

[00:12:39] What would be really, really exciting?

[00:12:41] And being able to separate yourself from the heaviness of the day-to-day in your business and to just give yourself permission to start dreaming about what might be possible can give you the inspiration to step into an annual strategic plan with a lot more excitement.

[00:12:56] Because you can start seeing what might be possible.

[00:12:59] So I think that's what I like to do.

[00:13:01] I'm not saying that's right or wrong, but I think that's a good habit to get into if you're a leader.

[00:13:06] Well, you bring up a great idea, and it's very normal for these types of sessions to be off-site, if you will.

[00:13:13] Not in the middle of the clinic during a busy day.

[00:13:16] We did the same.

[00:13:17] Will and I went to Vegas, where our moderator lived.

[00:13:20] So we flew to Vegas, and that's where we did our annual strategic planning sessions, even though our clinics were in Phoenix.

[00:13:29] Eventually, we'd have him come to Phoenix because we had a leadership team.

[00:13:33] But again, it wasn't in any of our clinics.

[00:13:36] It was off-site.

[00:13:38] We got it catered.

[00:13:39] We made it kind of nice.

[00:13:41] So having it separate so you can have that mental separation is a big deal and have nothing on your plate.

[00:13:50] Now, another point that you brought up was in the separation is maybe just turning off the emails for a day or two while you're going through this.

[00:14:00] Letting everyone know, hey, FYI, I'm off.

[00:14:03] I'm off-grid for just a little bit.

[00:14:05] So you don't get sucked back into – so you can maintain the space, the bandwidth to really focus on visioneering.

[00:14:14] And I think that's a big part of it.

[00:14:17] Now, after that, that's when it's important to start with, okay, and this is where we'll usually start.

[00:14:26] What were some of the huge wins from the past year?

[00:14:30] Let's list at least three to five things.

[00:14:33] What are the huge wins that we made this last year?

[00:14:36] What progress did we make?

[00:14:38] Write those down.

[00:14:39] What were some of the things that we could have done better last year?

[00:14:43] Let's just take some general ideas, put them out there.

[00:14:47] Were there some values that we didn't quite live up to?

[00:14:50] A good values alignment check is always good.

[00:14:54] Did we live this value well?

[00:14:56] How did we do on that value?

[00:14:58] How are we doing on our purpose?

[00:15:00] Are we measuring up to the purpose that is stated?

[00:15:03] Annually, at least, is a good time to really status check your purpose and values.

[00:15:09] Are we on the right track?

[00:15:10] Are we doing the things that we say that we're going to do on a regular basis?

[00:15:14] And that's a good place to start is just reassess the previous year.

[00:15:18] Beautiful.

[00:15:19] What do they say?

[00:15:19] Experience is not your greatest teacher, but it's the experience that you reflect on and debrief

[00:15:23] that's your greatest teacher.

[00:15:25] And it's like, that's not just a cliche, guys.

[00:15:27] It's real life.

[00:15:28] You know what I mean?

[00:15:29] Like, it's true stuff.

[00:15:31] So yeah, let's just do it.

[00:15:32] And there's so many wins that go unnoticed every day, every week and every year.

[00:15:40] There's so many wins that go unnoticed.

[00:15:42] And there's so many million dollar nuggets inside of that, that you're not capturing.

[00:15:50] Hey, we hit an all-time record.

[00:15:52] How did we do that?

[00:15:53] What were some of the things that led to that?

[00:15:55] What were some of the key decisions that we committed to that might've contributed to that?

[00:15:59] Hey, great idea to get that on paper, right?

[00:16:01] Like, okay, what's some SOPs we can create?

[00:16:03] Maybe we can add that to the onboarding process.

[00:16:05] So many things can get created through like analyzing those wins.

[00:16:09] Yeah.

[00:16:09] And why didn't we celebrate that?

[00:16:11] Yeah.

[00:16:12] Yeah.

[00:16:12] Because I've been treating 80 patients a week.

[00:16:15] Yeah.

[00:16:15] How did we not do anything about it?

[00:16:17] Seriously?

[00:16:18] Because we are so focused on the failures and what went wrong.

[00:16:22] And those things get highlighted, of course, because they stand out.

[00:16:26] But we don't capture and celebrate our wins enough.

[00:16:29] And I love that you pointed that out.

[00:16:32] And then from there, then it's easy to say, okay, what does the ideal scene look like for

[00:16:38] end of next year?

[00:16:40] To use one of the strategic coaches questions is, say, we're sitting here at the end of 2025.

[00:16:49] What has to have happened for us to look back and say, this was a completely successful

[00:16:54] year?

[00:16:56] What has to have happened to make us completely satisfied and say, wow, we achieved some amazing

[00:17:02] things.

[00:17:03] Let's write some of those things down.

[00:17:05] What does that ideal scene look like?

[00:17:07] And get really clear on.

[00:17:09] Yeah.

[00:17:09] What would need to be true for us to just, man, knock it out of the park?

[00:17:14] Love that question.

[00:17:15] What a great question.

[00:17:16] You know, they say the quality of your impact is based on the quality of questions you ask.

[00:17:20] And we're never asking ourselves those questions ever.

[00:17:24] Yeah.

[00:17:24] We're not diving deep enough.

[00:17:26] Right.

[00:17:26] So yeah, I think that's fantastic.

[00:17:29] Yeah.

[00:17:30] And that's a great place to start.

[00:17:31] It's just like, let's, let's dream big.

[00:17:34] Let's build out a BHAG, if you will.

[00:17:37] Big, hairy, audacious goal.

[00:17:40] Let's dream.

[00:17:41] Let's imagine things go great.

[00:17:44] We can expect some challenges, but in the end, let's imagine it being an amazingly transformative

[00:17:51] year.

[00:17:51] And what does that look like?

[00:17:53] And that's a good place to start.

[00:17:55] You mentioned Nathan dream.

[00:17:57] And I want to make note that it's important to dream without limitation.

[00:18:01] So a lot of people get in there and they're like, yeah, but what if all things were true?

[00:18:06] What if we could just do anything?

[00:18:07] What if we had a magic wand?

[00:18:09] Let's just get out of the realm of what you think reality is for a second.

[00:18:14] Let's think about what abracadabra, what could we do?

[00:18:18] Then we can transition into like, okay, what would need to be true to be able to do that?

[00:18:21] That's a different conversation, right?

[00:18:24] So making sure you're distinct there, I think is important.

[00:18:30] Hey, everybody.

[00:18:30] We finally did it.

[00:18:32] Finally, we're doing our first in-person event, the private practice owners club,

[00:18:36] first ever in-person conference, September 20th and 21st in Clearwater beach, Florida.

[00:18:41] Adam and I are super excited.

[00:18:43] Really can't wait to finally meet you in person.

[00:18:45] This entire time I've been preaching, reach out, step out, network.

[00:18:48] And I can now provide that to you, not just virtually or via podcast, but in person.

[00:18:54] We'll have speakers that speak on leadership and growth.

[00:18:56] We'll answer questions to your current issues.

[00:18:58] We'll provide you opportunity to network with like-minded individuals and obviously gain

[00:19:02] inspiration and energy from being in the room with the same people.

[00:19:05] You'll be able to literally reach out, step out and network all in one weekend.

[00:19:10] September 20th and 21st at the Hyatt at Clearwater beach, Florida.

[00:19:14] I would really love to see you there in order to register, go to ppoclubevents.com.

[00:19:19] P P O club events.com and register to sign up for the event.

[00:19:24] Also early bird registration ends July 31st.

[00:19:27] So to get a discount on the registration fees, make sure you sign up, get your room between

[00:19:32] now and July 31st.

[00:19:34] Otherwise prices will go up.

[00:19:35] So go to ppoclubevents.com.

[00:19:39] Thank you to all of you who have listened for so many years.

[00:19:42] I would love to finally meet you in person.

[00:19:58] This is a time to brainstorm.

[00:20:00] And in a brainstorming session, you never want to shoot anything down.

[00:20:03] Sure.

[00:20:04] Right.

[00:20:04] And I'm the one that falls to the side of cautious.

[00:20:07] I would love to say, oh, we're going to average $175 a visit.

[00:20:11] Well, that might be a little bit too much.

[00:20:13] Let's say $130 a visit.

[00:20:16] That's not the time to do this.

[00:20:17] Let's not be super realistic.

[00:20:20] Let's push the envelope a little bit.

[00:20:22] Right.

[00:20:22] Right.

[00:20:22] Right.

[00:20:22] Right.

[00:20:23] And have some fun with it.

[00:20:24] And this is where we go.

[00:20:25] So I'm just taking you through a little bit of the exercises that which we go through.

[00:20:30] And then we're starting to talk about a SWOT analysis.

[00:20:33] And that is, we'll talk about what are our strengths?

[00:20:36] What are we known for?

[00:20:38] What are we getting feedback on?

[00:20:41] Why do people love us?

[00:20:42] Who are some of our people that are strengths?

[00:20:45] What are some of our systems that are amazing?

[00:20:49] Who are some of the vendors that we lean on that have been incredible?

[00:20:53] And let's just list out all those strengths so we can recognize.

[00:20:56] And maybe in the future, within this exercise, we can leverage those things.

[00:21:03] And so it starts with the strengths portion.

[00:21:06] After that, then you can go into weaknesses.

[00:21:08] Let's be clear, dude.

[00:21:10] Where are we weak?

[00:21:12] Sometimes those are harder to do.

[00:21:14] Well, they're harder to get clear on.

[00:21:17] And part of this conversation, one of the rules that we had in our meetings,

[00:21:23] and especially during the strategic planning sessions, was no pink elephants.

[00:21:30] And no pink elephants is just like another way of saying no 500 pound gorillas sitting in the corner of the room.

[00:21:37] Yeah.

[00:21:37] I think maybe that's why those are hard to find, right?

[00:21:39] Because sometimes there's some things that really need to be talked about, but being talked about.

[00:21:43] People aren't bringing them up.

[00:21:44] Right.

[00:21:44] Because somebody might think that that's a weakness, that's an attack or whatever.

[00:21:48] And those are hard to face sometimes.

[00:21:51] Right.

[00:21:51] What is the five dysfunctions of a team?

[00:21:54] One of those is open and honest debate and conflict.

[00:22:00] To show you how we put it into practice, before every leadership meeting, one of our exercises was,

[00:22:06] okay, pink elephants time.

[00:22:08] Is everybody clear?

[00:22:09] And we'd go one by one, and each person would have to say yes.

[00:22:13] And when they say yes, that means I don't have any current issues with anyone here in the room,

[00:22:19] or what has happened recently that would cause me negative emotion amongst us.

[00:22:23] We are all aligned.

[00:22:25] We're all good.

[00:22:26] And sometimes people needed to say no.

[00:22:29] And actually say, hey, last meeting, this is the time to point fingers and say, so you said this,

[00:22:36] and it felt kind of condescending, or it felt like I was being preached at, and it kind of hurt.

[00:22:42] It felt like I was being talked down to, and I really didn't appreciate that.

[00:22:47] I know I have some things to work on, and I'm sure you didn't intend that to be that way.

[00:22:52] So that's what I mean by pink elephants.

[00:22:54] And we have to flesh those out before we moved forward into any of these conversations.

[00:22:59] Now, if you're going to talk about that during a SWOT analysis and the weaknesses of the organization,

[00:23:04] that's the time to really pull back the curtains and say, and expose yourselves and say,

[00:23:10] this is what's wrong with our organization.

[00:23:13] Pick some things.

[00:23:14] We suffer people who come in late with no disciplinary action whatsoever.

[00:23:21] And that goes against our values.

[00:23:23] We know it goes against our values, but we don't hold any of it down.

[00:23:27] That's a huge weakness.

[00:23:29] And so that's the time to be honest and open about the weaknesses of the organization.

[00:23:34] Or honestly, this is a time where the owner might have to be really vulnerable and quiet and shut the hell up.

[00:23:44] Yeah, because here's the truth.

[00:23:46] You are a reflection of the organization.

[00:23:49] The weaknesses are there because you've allowed them to be there.

[00:23:52] And they've gone unnoticed by you because you're the leader.

[00:23:55] And it's hard.

[00:23:57] And I've been there.

[00:23:58] I've been there for me.

[00:24:00] Like some of the weaknesses, I don't know, just to be vulnerable with the listeners.

[00:24:03] Like too many ideas, not enough clarity.

[00:24:06] Like, hey, we have a lot of ideas here in our company, but just not a lot of clarity.

[00:24:10] That was a direct.

[00:24:11] They said that to you?

[00:24:12] Yeah, that was some of the weaknesses that we had to overcome.

[00:24:15] And that was a direct.

[00:24:17] You guys have listened to me long enough to know that I got a lot of ideas and sometimes not a lot of clarity.

[00:24:21] That was a direct weakness of my leadership capabilities.

[00:24:24] And I had to hear that.

[00:24:26] And I had to get better at that.

[00:24:27] We had to implement some systems to get Adam in check.

[00:24:30] And I feel like I'm so glad for that, grateful for that opportunity.

[00:24:35] You know what I mean?

[00:24:35] To be able to do that.

[00:24:37] And to help the team and help the company get better.

[00:24:39] What did you have to do to get your team to a point where they were felt safe enough to say that?

[00:24:45] Yeah.

[00:24:45] In Traction, Chapter 3, in the back, there's a leadership exercise that states everybody's going to go around the room and tell each other one thing that they love about each person.

[00:24:58] And one thing that you kind of wish would be a little different.

[00:25:04] And we did that.

[00:25:05] Did you really?

[00:25:06] Wow.

[00:25:06] Oh, it was hard.

[00:25:08] But you know what happened?

[00:25:09] Everybody said the same thing about everybody.

[00:25:11] Everybody said the same thing about everybody.

[00:25:13] So it was a super powerful exercise.

[00:25:16] And it was a tense exercise.

[00:25:19] But you got to do hard things if you want to grow.

[00:25:21] You got to have those discussions, especially in a leadership team.

[00:25:24] You've got to have that.

[00:25:25] And a good moderator will tease some of that out.

[00:25:28] Now, our moderator back in Vegas, he met with some partners.

[00:25:32] He shares the stories.

[00:25:33] And it's happened a couple times where he brings up the idea of pink elephants within the first five minutes because that's one of the rules.

[00:25:40] It's also like all phones are turned off.

[00:25:43] There's nothing else scheduled the rest of the day.

[00:25:46] Everyone's going to be engaged, be the first to share, share from experience.

[00:25:51] But no pink elephants is another rule.

[00:25:53] And he explained the no pink elephants issue.

[00:25:56] They spent the rest of the day arguing and fleshing things out.

[00:26:01] I know the weaknesses of the company.

[00:26:05] Yeah, I know the weaknesses of my partner.

[00:26:07] Bad communication, bad leadership, bad culture.

[00:26:10] Yeah, exactly.

[00:26:11] Right.

[00:26:11] And it was all about their relationship as partners.

[00:26:15] And he's like, we're not going anywhere until we figure this out because the company is not going anywhere until that's figured out.

[00:26:23] And so it's a vital part of the entire analysis of the organization.

[00:26:29] And frankly, if that had to happen, you've got to let it go.

[00:26:35] And if we've got to spend the next four to six hours talking this stuff out, let's talk it out now.

[00:26:43] Instead of it being a poison that just seeps and cankers us for the rest of the year, let's get it out.

[00:26:49] So talking about weaknesses, including the pink elephants is a huge step towards any leadership growing close and functioning well together.

[00:26:59] So opportunities, pretty straightforward.

[00:27:01] What opportunities lay before us in the next year that we can take advantage of?

[00:27:05] This includes some of the ideas that we have to implement over the next year.

[00:27:08] Hey, we've got this available to us, that available to us.

[00:27:11] These opportunities over here, I think we can strengthen up this department.

[00:27:16] This software program, I think, is going to make a huge difference, et cetera, et cetera.

[00:27:20] And then the threats.

[00:27:22] And threats can be internal.

[00:27:24] Threats can be external.

[00:27:25] Right.

[00:27:26] And we talk about those as well.

[00:27:29] Thinking, of course, declining reimbursement is an external threat.

[00:27:34] So-and-so is going to have a baby this year.

[00:27:36] That could be a hit to the organization.

[00:27:39] So there are things like that you want to get out, put on the table ahead of time, just so you can look forward and say, these are some things we might have to consider planning for.

[00:27:48] That's the idea.

[00:27:49] Give you some time to look forward so that you aren't reactive, but proactive.

[00:27:54] Yeah.

[00:27:55] One thing that we did that was fun was we just made like a Google form, a SWOT Google form, and we sent to every person in the company.

[00:28:03] 60 people did a SWOT analysis.

[00:28:05] Some did it, some didn't.

[00:28:06] That's cool.

[00:28:07] But that was really helpful to be able to pull that up and see the insights of the team.

[00:28:13] That's cool.

[00:28:13] Yeah, yeah.

[00:28:14] It was really cool.

[00:28:15] Yeah.

[00:28:16] There's going to be a ton of opportunities, and a lot of people are going to say the same thing.

[00:28:20] And there's going to be a number of weaknesses, and a lot of people are going to say the same thing.

[00:28:23] They just might say it different ways.

[00:28:25] And then the idea with listing out all the opportunities and threats is then to, well, the first exercise, the first thing we do is we reword those threats to make them opportunities.

[00:28:39] So if you said declining reimbursement, easy.

[00:28:43] That's an easy threat that's going to impact our profit margins next year.

[00:28:47] Declining reimbursement from insurance companies.

[00:28:50] An opportunity would be to improve internal systems and contracts such that our reimbursement rate actually increases instead of decreases.

[00:29:01] Well, you don't have to go into the details.

[00:29:03] Let's just say an opportunity could be to find ways to increase our average reimbursement rate.

[00:29:10] Let's just make it succinct and simple, not tying it to anything in particular.

[00:29:14] So that would be a good way of changing a threat to an opportunity.

[00:29:18] And you do that with all of the threats and change them into opportunities.

[00:29:22] You also want to cross out any of those that are saying the same thing, essentially.

[00:29:29] Reword them, whatever that takes.

[00:29:32] And then now you've got a list of what, 20 opportunities because those threats were reworded to become opportunities.

[00:29:41] And along with the original list of opportunities, now you've got a good set of 15, 20 plus opportunities before you that you have to attack the new year.

[00:29:50] And now, what do you do with it?

[00:29:55] The one thing I want to highlight there is, I think it was Carl Young.

[00:30:00] That's wherever your fear is, there is your project.

[00:30:03] And when you sit, because most people, they're these threats, right?

[00:30:07] Or these big, scary challenges that you know that are kind of up there on the shelf, but you're not really looking at them because you don't really want to face them.

[00:30:17] But that's another great reason why this annual strategic plan is so useful is because it forces you to put them down on paper and attack the problems that you're most worried about.

[00:30:28] Reimbursement, recruiting, all the things.

[00:30:31] And it forces you to switch into solution mode as opposed to just fear and insecurity and just, I'm a victim.

[00:30:38] I can't do anything about it.

[00:30:39] And that's false because there's a lot of things around those challenges that you can control.

[00:30:43] Right.

[00:30:44] You just got to be willing to step out and actually think about it.

[00:30:47] Right.

[00:30:47] Exactly.

[00:30:48] So now you've got this list of 20 opportunities, plus opportunities, 20 plus.

[00:30:55] Now the conversation between you, your partner, your leadership team, or between you and the moderator is, what are the five we're going to work on this year?

[00:31:05] Because all 20 of these are going to show up sometime along the course of the next year.

[00:31:10] And how are you going to determine what are the top fives if you don't do it now?

[00:31:14] Now is the best time because you're supposedly in a dreaming state.

[00:31:18] You're in a positive, optimistic state.

[00:31:20] You're looking forward.

[00:31:21] You're excited.

[00:31:23] And you're thinking everything is possible.

[00:31:26] What are the four or five that we're going to focus on this year?

[00:31:29] And now it takes some time.

[00:31:32] Do we really want this?

[00:31:33] Do we really want that?

[00:31:34] We say we want it, but do we really want it?

[00:31:36] Is that going to make a significant impact or not?

[00:31:40] And just start crossing them out.

[00:31:42] And does this opportunity sound a lot like this opportunity?

[00:31:45] And can it be reworded so it's just one thing?

[00:31:47] And at that point, is that one thing still important?

[00:31:50] So it's a lot of work to just winnow it down to four and five.

[00:31:54] And some people might be the flag bearers for some of those priorities.

[00:31:58] And they have to fight against the other flag bearers who are saying, but I don't think so.

[00:32:02] And again, conversation has to ensue.

[00:32:05] Until you can get it down to four or five.

[00:32:09] Prioritization.

[00:32:10] Prioritization.

[00:32:11] And this is one thing that truly helps.

[00:32:14] We talked about what it does for the alignment of the team.

[00:32:17] This is where that comes into play.

[00:32:19] This is where the rubber meets the road.

[00:32:20] Is because we're all agreeing now after we've done this,

[00:32:25] these are the company's top five priorities.

[00:32:30] And then you step back and we're like, are we good?

[00:32:34] Is this cool?

[00:32:35] All agreeing.

[00:32:36] If this is what we believe are the top five,

[00:32:39] are we agreeing that nothing distracts us from these top five?

[00:32:43] Right, right, right.

[00:32:44] And then celebration time.

[00:32:46] Like we are clear.

[00:32:47] This is what we're going to focus on going forward.

[00:32:50] And that's when it starts.

[00:32:52] Then execution.

[00:32:53] That's the execution stage.

[00:32:55] Then you start talking about execution.

[00:32:56] This whole process usually takes from start to finish.

[00:33:01] Takes us what?

[00:33:02] It only takes me like an hour or two at the end to really fill out the rest.

[00:33:07] Like the first four or five hours are this.

[00:33:09] It's a full day.

[00:33:10] It is a full day thing.

[00:33:12] Depending on how big your company is, it's at least a full day.

[00:33:15] I mean, I think even we had two people in our company when we had this coaching company

[00:33:19] and it took us four to five hours.

[00:33:21] Oh yeah.

[00:33:22] Yeah.

[00:33:23] Adam and I did this last year.

[00:33:24] We got a place, an office suite in Tempe.

[00:33:27] Nice view, nice place.

[00:33:30] And we went to lunch and came back and had to finish still.

[00:33:33] Yeah, yeah.

[00:33:34] Right.

[00:33:34] So I'm sure it was at least five, six hours for just the two of us.

[00:33:38] It's on a small organization.

[00:33:40] So yeah, it took some time.

[00:33:42] But then after that is now you have your priorities.

[00:33:46] Now we can establish the goals related to each priority.

[00:33:49] So goal setting back in the day for me was, well, I just want to achieve this goal.

[00:33:54] So I just write that down.

[00:33:56] Not necessarily tying it to any priorities.

[00:33:59] Now you have the priorities.

[00:34:02] Now let's cast the vision.

[00:34:04] What does the end goal of this priority look like?

[00:34:08] What is the finished product?

[00:34:10] What's the definition of done?

[00:34:11] Yeah.

[00:34:12] What's the net?

[00:34:12] What is it?

[00:34:14] And iterate that and then set a year end goal to it, followed by some benchmark goals behind it.

[00:34:21] So if it's going to take the full year, some of these goals might not take a full 12 months

[00:34:25] and that's fine.

[00:34:26] Just put a date, an end date to them.

[00:34:28] But if it's a year end goal, where do we need to be at the end of quarter one?

[00:34:31] Where do we need to be at the end of quarter two, quarter three, quarter four?

[00:34:35] And let's figure that out now.

[00:34:37] And these can be adjusted along the way, but let's figure those out now and make sure we

[00:34:43] have a clear idea of what the path forward looks like.

[00:34:46] I think it's incredible, man.

[00:34:47] I think we've all, hopefully most of us have experienced the excitement that you get whenever

[00:34:54] you find a lot of clarity and direction.

[00:34:57] When you start to recognize like, oh, wow, I do have a plan and I do have some control over this.

[00:35:02] The overwhelm and anxiety turns into excitement and empowerment.

[00:35:08] And once you get good at finding that, you get good at finding that type of clarity.

[00:35:16] First of all, your team is going to start expecting it.

[00:35:19] It's going to be an expectation moving forward.

[00:35:22] And you and your team will get better at finding that throughout the year.

[00:35:26] During your weekly team meetings, your monthly debriefs, your quarterly, you will learn the

[00:35:32] skill of finding clarity as a team.

[00:35:33] And I just feel like that's, I can't stress enough how powerful it is.

[00:35:39] And the truth is because this is really the premise of like our entire coaching program.

[00:35:45] It is that you and your team are the answer to all your problems.

[00:35:48] You've got everything you need to do anything you want in your practice.

[00:35:53] All you need is clarity.

[00:35:55] When you find clarity and you find direction, you will unlock everything that you ever wanted.

[00:35:59] And that's just why I'm so passionate about that because things get really exciting.

[00:36:04] I like seeing people win.

[00:36:06] Yeah.

[00:36:06] And I'm sure walking away from this exercise, going through it with your team,

[00:36:11] what has been their response after doing it?

[00:36:14] Just excitement.

[00:36:16] I mean, we do our one word open, you know, and then we do our one word close.

[00:36:21] And my favorite thing is whenever it's like, one word open is like, ah, really busy.

[00:36:25] And one word closes like, I'm really excited.

[00:36:28] It's like you transform that mind.

[00:36:30] You like empower your team or like, I'm really ready.

[00:36:33] I'm excited.

[00:36:34] I'm really ready to go.

[00:36:35] Yeah.

[00:36:36] As I'm doing this with other companies and I've done it with our organization, with other

[00:36:41] PT owners and even with Will's billing company and all of his biller, his leadership team,

[00:36:48] like the energy afterwards is just like, this is awesome.

[00:36:52] We've got something up.

[00:36:53] So let's rock and roll.

[00:36:54] Yeah.

[00:36:55] We hammered out some of the issues that we felt we were having.

[00:36:59] And we have a clear idea of how we're going to address the obstacles that are before us.

[00:37:04] And that sense is powerful.

[00:37:08] It's the most powerful thing there is.

[00:37:10] I'm not a victim to that anymore.

[00:37:13] We have an idea of how to address it.

[00:37:16] And so-and-so is going to lead the charge and I'm going to support them a hundred percent

[00:37:20] and give them everything that they need to achieve their goal.

[00:37:23] And even let her or him delegate things to me as needed to accomplish that goal.

[00:37:28] I'm ready to go.

[00:37:30] And super exciting as an owner, especially to know that your team's on board, that you have

[00:37:35] a clear vision of what's going to happen.

[00:37:36] And it's not dependent upon you.

[00:37:40] You sure that we shouldn't do some more Facebook ads and let that be the problem?

[00:37:44] Let's just do some more Facebook ads in 2025.

[00:37:46] That'll solve it.

[00:37:48] Yeah, that'll solve it.

[00:37:49] But double our Facebook ad budget.

[00:37:51] Yeah, let's just run some ads and get more new patients.

[00:37:54] That's going to solve everything.

[00:37:55] That'll solve it all.

[00:37:56] Yeah, buddy.

[00:37:58] Yeah.

[00:37:59] So great things happen from it.

[00:38:01] I had plenty of people that I've worked with on that.

[00:38:02] And for those who are listening, we're saying this to give you some guidance, but also saying

[00:38:07] this because you need support and don't be afraid to reach out to us to get that support.

[00:38:13] We will come on site and guide you through this process, this annual strategic planning process

[00:38:20] to make it a win for you and your organization.

[00:38:23] And the beauty of having that third party, someone that's outside of the organization

[00:38:28] leading that process.

[00:38:29] I've already talked to a little bit because there's not the internal understanding of excuses

[00:38:34] that you have built in, but someone who also can challenge the CEO or an owner.

[00:38:40] Because typically your team's not going to speak up and go against the owner.

[00:38:45] But if a moderator is doing the right thing and seeing things go sideways and feeling some

[00:38:49] uncomfortable pauses, we'll speak out and say, anyone feel differently about what the owner

[00:38:55] just said?

[00:38:56] Anybody hear that elephant coming around?

[00:38:58] I'm hearing some peak elephants walk in.

[00:39:01] Yeah, what's going on?

[00:39:02] Right.

[00:39:03] And give them a voice.

[00:39:04] Yes.

[00:39:05] Because unfortunately, owners present, their voice stands out more than the others.

[00:39:10] And they will defer to it.

[00:39:12] But even if you don't have a leadership team, it's really helpful to just have the feedback,

[00:39:17] the guidance, the pushback on occasion, the accountability.

[00:39:21] Like, do you really think you're going to do that this year?

[00:39:24] Some kind of a harebrained idea or that kind of stuff can be really helpful.

[00:39:29] And we can come on site and do that for you guys for sure.

[00:39:33] Anything else you want to share about strategic plans?

[00:39:36] No, I would say if you don't wake up,

[00:39:39] if I get on a call with you today and I ask you what your top three priorities are for

[00:39:44] the rest of the quarter and you say, I don't know, shame on you.

[00:39:49] It's because you didn't do this.

[00:39:50] You didn't plan.

[00:39:52] You're not clear on your priorities.

[00:39:55] And guys, our clients are just absolutely destroying the game because they stay clear

[00:40:00] all year long.

[00:40:01] And you can too.

[00:40:02] So I would just encourage you that there's way more possible for you.

[00:40:05] Yeah.

[00:40:06] One of the things about having that, this set in place now we've determined everything,

[00:40:11] man, if you can now present your top priorities to your coach and guess who's going to hold

[00:40:15] you accountable because really does an owner have someone that they're accountable to?

[00:40:20] Yeah.

[00:40:20] Maybe they're accountable to their spouses and their family.

[00:40:23] Sure.

[00:40:23] But their spouses and their family aren't typically going to question their everyday business decisions.

[00:40:28] They're just want to make sure everything's safe and secure at home.

[00:40:31] But that's where the coach comes in and says, wait, you said this was a top priority and

[00:40:36] you're not doing anything about it.

[00:40:37] That's right.

[00:40:38] Tell me what's up.

[00:40:39] We'll pick elephants, buddy.

[00:40:40] That kind of accountability is absolutely necessary.

[00:40:44] And if you don't have a coach to hold you accountable to it, I don't know how many more

[00:40:48] times I can tell you all.

[00:40:49] You got a crazy person at the wheel.

[00:40:51] I've been doing this for almost six years and I don't know how many podcasts I go without

[00:40:56] saying you need a coach.

[00:40:58] You need a coach.

[00:40:58] You need a coach.

[00:40:59] It doesn't have to be me.

[00:41:00] I don't care.

[00:41:01] Get a coach.

[00:41:01] And if you're going to have a coach, at least present to him, these are my top five priorities

[00:41:05] for the year.

[00:41:05] Can you help me achieve them?

[00:41:07] So do the priorities, get a coach, and then you'll see transformative differences in your

[00:41:14] business.

[00:41:15] I practiced for 10 years before getting a coach and I can promise you my revenues, my profits

[00:41:23] were flatlined for the four previous years.

[00:41:27] But once I got a coach, my life vastly changed and the trajectory of my life altogether changed

[00:41:33] simply because of that decision.

[00:41:34] So it'll be the same for those who are listening that haven't gotten a coach yet.

[00:41:38] So huge challenge out there to get one, especially in this year, this next year, 2025.

[00:41:43] It can be the biggest one ever.

[00:41:45] That's right.

[00:41:46] It can be.

[00:41:47] Cool, man.

[00:41:48] Thanks for joining me again today.

[00:41:50] Exciting times.

[00:41:51] Yes, sir.

[00:41:52] Let's do it again.

[00:41:52] All right.

[00:41:53] We'll see you, man.

[00:41:56] Thanks for joining us today in the Physical Therapy Owners Club, the resource for stability

[00:42:01] and freedom in your PT practice.

[00:42:03] Reach out and join the network today.

[00:42:05] Subscribe to our podcast, get links to social media, and access all of our episodes with show

[00:42:10] notes at ptoclub.com.

[00:42:13] Thank you.

[00:42:15] Bye.

[00:42:15] Bye.

[00:42:15] Bye.

[00:42:16] Bye.

[00:42:17] Bye.

[00:42:17] Bye.