Set the Direction · part of The Shift That Sticks
Get the whole body pointed the same direction, before the plan is built on it
Set the Direction is the only leadership alignment process that surfaces the common ground a mayor, council, and executive team already share, gathered independently from each leader, so the body sets its direction in the open, faster and better informed.
Why now
The conditions an elected body was elected under rarely hold still.
Budgets tighten, a state mandate lands, what residents are asking for moves, and the makeup of the body itself changes at every election. The direction that fit two years ago and the world the body governs today are not always the same thing, and that gap is worth naming on purpose.
Set the Direction is the structured way an elected body and its executive team face the truth of their changed conditions, define what matters now, and surface the common ground they already share, so the body sets its direction in the open, faster and better informed, with every leader’s priorities already known instead of surfacing for the first time at the dais.
It extends the long-term planning practices you already trust. It does not replace strategic planning. It makes the planning you do land, by starting it from agreement the body has actually tested together rather than agreement everyone hopes is there.
Three moments call for it
Whatever state your plan is in, Set the Direction re-aligns the body before direction is set.
The sharpest new value
Update your direction without commissioning a whole new plan
Conditions shift faster than a multi-year planning cycle can keep up with. When something has changed (a mandate, a budget, a new council member, a shift in what residents are asking for), a full re-plan is costly and slow, and conditions do not wait for the next planning cycle. Set the Direction is the focused, facilitated way to update where you are heading in weeks, not quarters, and keep the plan you already have alive. This is the gap it closes best: the distance between expensive, infrequent plans and fast-moving conditions.
Start a strategic plan from real agreement
Before you invest in a planning process, align the body and staff on shared priorities so the plan is built on agreement the body has tested, not assumed. The plan starts further ahead and holds longer.
Refresh direction in light of what has changed
A well-built plan can be overtaken by events. When the ground has shifted under a sound plan, decisions that were right when they were made deserve a fresh look in light of what is different now. Set the Direction gives the body a structured, no-fault way to revisit direction together, so the plan reflects the conditions the body is actually governing in now.
How it works
- Individual strengths and working-style assessments for each elected official and executive, so people understand how they and their colleagues lead.
- A one-on-one leadership session with each member of the body and the executive team, where each leader’s own priorities are heard independently. No leader’s views are carried to another; the facilitator gathers, never relays.
- A synthesized alignment briefing that shows the body the common ground it already holds and where views differ, in its own words, as material for the body’s own discussion.
- A facilitated working session, held in the body’s open public meeting, where the body deliberates and reaches its agreement on direction together, in full view.
Who it is for
A mayor, council or commission, and the city or county manager and executive team, together.
This is a leadership decision, not a sales pitch: how much a body chooses to invest in the alignment that carries every other decision it makes.