I love to-do lists, I firmly believe that they solve most problems. But even I recognize that, while practical, to-do lists are not inspiring.

When Mike was thinking about exiting his business, he was worried that the employees that would become leaders did not have true ownership of their work. They were good at their jobs—going through the to-do lists—but were they building a vision of the future?

He hired me for a strategic blueprint and we got key leaders involved in the project. They quickly saw that they could influence the future and started making decisions to guide the business. Mike is now ready to set an exit date, secure that the business he built from scratch has a sound future.

Your friend Mike is telling you about all the work he will do on his lake house as he exits his business. Ask him how much time he spends on his work laptop when he is there.