My wife and I recently traveled to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, with our good friends Georgia and Tom Davis and two other couples.
Several of us got massages while we were there, and it occurred to me that a good massage is like a good #strategic planning session:

1. A professional is a good idea. You can massage yourself but it’s not very gratifying. You can lead your own planning session, but a good #facilitator will make sure the real issues are addressed.
2. Work out the kinks. You can get a nice rub down or you can get a deep tissue massage, which hurts a little but in the long run is better for you. In a planning session, going deep to release tensions about strategy, people and processes may be uncomfortable but if you don’t address the real issues that are holding back #business performance you’re wasting your time.
3. Follow-though is key. Failure to drink plenty of water after your massage keeps toxins released by the massage in your body. Likewise, if you don’t schedule regular #accountability meetings to review progress, the work by your team in the planning session is wasted, which is a huge drain on morale.

I’ve led more than 150 strategic planning sessions in dozens of industries, and in a Sept. 7 webinar I’ll identify the 10 biggest strategic planning mistakes and how to avoid them.

Maybe it’s time to schedule a deep tissue massage for your business.