A step-by-step process for translating strategy into milestones, ownership, and momentum.

Most strategies don’t fail because the ideas are wrong, but because they never make it off the page.

Leaders spend hours shaping ambitious goals and priorities, but unless those ideas are turned into clear, measurable steps with ownership and momentum, strategy ends up as shelfware.

Bridging the strategy–execution gap is one of the toughest challenges leadership teams face. It’s not just about setting targets; it’s about making them real. That means translating big goals into measurable outcomes, breaking them down into milestones, assigning ownership, creating rhythms of accountability, and, crucially, protecting time to focus on what really shifts the dial.

Here’s a practical journey leadership teams can follow to turn strategy into action.

Step 1: Set OKRs and KPIs That Matter

The first step is to make goals tangible. Without clear measures, strategy remains abstract.

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results): Ambitious objectives that inspire, paired with measurable results that track progress.
KPIs (Key Performance Indicators): Ongoing health checks that monitor stability and performance.
Transformation KPIs: The most powerful of all. These are targets that no single team can deliver alone — they require leaders to work together in new ways.

Example: One leadership team I worked with had a goal to “increase annual revenue by 20%.” On its own, this was too broad. Everyone agreed it was important, but nobody knew what needed to happen next. We broke it into milestones:

Q1: Define target client segments and refresh the sales pipeline.
Q2: Launch a new marketing campaign and onboard three new strategic accounts.
Q3: Improve conversion rates by redesigning the proposal process and introducing client feedback loops.
Q4: Expand services with two existing clients and finalise partnership agreements.

The revenue growth was achieved not because people focused on the 20% target itself, but because they worked towards clear, achievable steps that made progress visible.

Step 2: Break Big Goals Into Small Steps

Ambitious goals can feel motivating at the top, but confusing and overwhelming. You need to know what this looks like in practice and how progress will be tracked.

That’s where SMART goals come in. For every big objective, define goals that are:

Specific - unambiguous
Measurable - attach a number or evidence of success
Achievable - stretching, but realistic given time and resources.
Relevant - aligned to the bigger strategy, not just busy work.
Time-bound - with deadlines that create urgency and focus.

Once you have SMART goals, break the annual ambition into quarterly or even monthly milestones. For example, instead of saying “grow client revenue by 20% this year,” identify the steps along the way:

Build a refreshed sales pipeline and win two new accounts.
Launch a targeted campaign in one priority sector.
Improve conversion rates by 10% through a new proposal process.
Expand services with three existing clients.

Step 3: Prioritise What Matters Most

Once goals are set, the temptation is to tackle them all at once. But trying to do everything dilutes focus. This is where sequencing is essential. The simple Now, Soon and Later lens helps avoid overload and focus resources where they matter most.

Now: urgent and essential priorities that need immediate attention or are quick wins
Soon: important work that depends on foundations being in place.
Later: longer-term ambitions to return to once capacity allows.

Step 4: Assign Clear Ownership

Even the best milestones won’t move forward without clear ownership. One of the most common reasons strategy execution fails is that everyone assumes someone else will deliver. Without clarity, tasks stall, overlap, or simply fall through the cracks.

The RACI framework is a simple tool to remove this confusion by spelling out roles:

Responsible: the person (or people) actually doing the work.
Accountable: the one person ultimately answerable for success.
Consulted: people whose expertise or perspective is needed along the way.
Informed: those who need to be kept updated, even if they’re not directly involved.

Step 5: Create Rhythm and Discipline

Progress should be transparent, shared, and easy to track so everyone can see the journey from ambition to action. It also requires regular check-ins, visible updates, and space to adapt.

Weekly or monthly check-ins: quick reviews of OKRs and milestones.
Quarterly reflections: deeper look at what’s working, what needs adjusting, and what to stop or start.
Visible tracking: progress dashboards or scorecards that everyone can see. Some teams use scoreboards in team meetings; others use visual progress charts.

Step 6: Make Time for What Shifts the Dial

The hardest part of execution isn’t knowing what to do — it’s making time to do it. Urgent demands pull leaders back into operations. The firefighting takes over. But strategy requires deliberate attention. Leadership teams must protect time for the work that shapes the future, not just the work that keeps today running.

The Eisenhower Matrix helps here:

Most leaders spend too much time in “urgent and important.” True strategy lives in the “important but not urgent” quadrant — the work that builds capacity, shapes culture, and drives transformation.

Example: In one leadership programme, we mapped leaders’ weekly diaries against the matrix. Most of their time was firefighting. Once they saw this, they began to block out regular sessions for strategy. Six months later, progress was visible in ways they hadn’t thought possible.

Final Thought

Turning strategy into action isn’t about more documents. It’s about discipline, ownership, and focus. Leadership teams can close the strategy–execution gap by:

Setting OKRs, KPIs, and Transformation KPIs that matter.
Breaking them down into SMART milestones.
Prioritising with Now/Soon/Later and/or the Eisenhower Matrix
Assigning ownership with RACI.
Creating accountability.
Protecting time for strategic work that shifts the dial.

Do you need help to turn your strategy into action?

I work with leaders and boards to bridge the gap between strategy and execution, helping them turn ambition into action through facilitation, systemic team coaching, and leadership off-sites.

If you’d like to explore how I could support your team, get in touch

Email: hello@growth-space.co.uk or call 07966 475195.

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How to turn strategy into action