High above the valley in Südtirol, a young climber once asked an old mountain guide, “How do you know which peak to choose?”
The guide pointed across the range. “Pick one you can see clearly.”
The climber chose a modest summit nearby. They reached it by midday.
From the top, the guide said nothing. He simply turned the climber toward the horizon.
Far beyond, higher peaks cut into the sky.
The climber looked back. “I didn’t even consider those.”
The guide smiled. “You didn’t miss them because you couldn’t climb them. You missed them because you didn’t choose them.”
In the mountains, as in leadership, the first decision is not how to climb.
It’s how high you are willing to look.
Enjoy your February news2use,
Dan
“Relevant & pragmatic ideas, tools and insights to play at your best.”
For You
As part of my own development, I’m working through the Exponential Primer from Singularity University, led by Dr Peter Diamandis.
Not because I need more content. Because I want to sharpen my lens.
Most strategic conversations extend the forecast, yet few multiply the ambition.
In a world that is increasingly exponential, linear thinking feels safe, and seductively comfortable.
If you want to stretch your thinking, try these three prompts:
- The 10X Mirror – “If I multiplied my current ambition by ten, what would have to change in me first?”
- The Ten-Year Witness – Ten years from now, my future self is watching today. Proud of my pace? Or impatient with my caution?
- The Leadership Room Test – “If we multiplied our ambition by ten, revenue, impact, innovation; what habits would immediately become unacceptable?”
Exponential growth rarely starts with technology. It starts with courage to think beyond the next incremental step.
Here’s the link to the program if you’re curious.
Your executive ownershift isn’t about forecasting the future, it’s about multiplying it, and then acting accordingly.
For You & Your Team
Imagine bringing 80–100 of your top leaders into a room.
In front of each of them; one blank sheet of paper and a few colored pencils.
The request is simple:
“Visualize our strategy on one page, show our future direction, our priorities and the collaborations that must work well; and where, and how we will win.”
Now ask yourself; how aligned would those 100 visuals be in your organization, and if they differ significantly, what does that cost you?
Misalignment doesn’t just create confusion. It drains energy, slows decisions, and fractures execution.
In a recent Harvard Business Review article, this capability is described as sense-giving, the leader’s ability to translate complex strategy into something others can see, grasp, and act on.
Research consistently shows that a single, well-designed visual slide improves investor perception and internal alignment. Why?
Visuals move strategy from abstraction to shared understanding. Clarity beats complexity because a strategy people can see is a strategy they can execute.
If aligning your top 100 leaders around one unified future direction matters to you, let’s talk.
For You, Your Team & Your Business
We are six or seven weeks into the year. Kick-off meetings. Strategy launches. Townhalls.
And I keep hearing the same sentence from senior leaders, “That was a huge amount of information. We need to make sure everyone gets the slides so they can go through it again.”
Let me ask a different question:
Was your event information-driven or communication-driven?
After a short pause, the usual response comes; “Isn’t that the same thing?”
Information is one-way. A download. Well-prepared slides. Polished messages. Clean documentation, often transferring what has been clear in the minds of a few into the inboxes of many.
Communication is different. It balances input with inquiry. Content with conversation. Direction with dialogue, allowing questions, encouraging pushback by creating space for disagreement. Through this creative tension or friction, an ownershift takes place, as
people move from receiving the strategy to owning it.
There is nothing wrong with information sessions. But if they are your default mode, don’t expect exceptional execution at light speed.
Sometimes you must go a bit slower so you can go much faster later. Slides share information. Dialogue invites ownership.
People, Places & Technology
You know that feeling after a truly exceptional meal, weeks later, you still remember the taste, the atmosphere, the experience?
Some people get that from restaurants. I get it from learning venues that move from acceptable to remarkable.
Let me introduce you to Bad Schörgau, about 280 kilometers south of Munich, in the Sarntal, just north of Bozen.
This place strikes a rare balance: Exceptional workshop spaces. An atmosphere that invites clarity.
Lodging and cuisine that are, quite honestly, beyond description.
Last autumn, I worked there with the Executive Team of the Durst Group. An exception team in the making, engaging conversations and meaningful results, amplified with the perfect surroundings.
And if you’re driving there on a clear day, take the route over the Penser Joch (Strada Statale 508). It is not the Brenner. It is better.
Winding alpine roads. Wide-open mountain views. One of the most breathtaking drives you’ll experience in Europe.
Places matter. Environment shapes thinking.
Bad Schörgau is the real thing. I can’t wait to return.
Thought for the Day
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
-Nelson Mandela