The 7 Questions Every Leader Must Answer

Most strategic plans fail not because of poor execution, but because they answer the wrong questions.

Leaders spend months crafting elaborate strategies, yet miss fundamental clarity on questions that actually matter. The result? Teams work hard on activities that don't move the needle. Alignment happens by accident, not design. Success becomes a matter of luck rather than leadership.

After working with hundreds of organizations, I developed the 7 Questions of Leadership framework—published in Resolute—to provide the strategic clarity that transforms good intentions into exceptional results.

Why Questions Matter More Than Answers

In a VUCA world—volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous—leaders face unprecedented change. Yesterday's answers become today's obstacles. What worked last quarter may fail next quarter.

But the questions remain constant.

The organizations that thrive aren't those with the best answers. They're organizations that relentlessly ask the right questions and adapt their answers as conditions change.

The 7 Questions of Leadership are these constant questions—the strategic foundation upon which adaptive, resilient organizations are built.

The 7 Questions of Leadership

Question 1: What is our vision?

Vision isn't a poster on the wall. It's the compelling picture of the future that motivates action today.

A strong vision answers:

What future are we creating?
Why does this future matter?
What makes this future worth the sacrifice required?

Poor vision: "To be the leading provider of..." Strong vision: "A world where every organization has the clarity to achieve its purpose."

The test: Does your vision excite people who have choices about where to work? If it reads like corporate boilerplate, it's not a vision—it's a statement.

Why it matters: Vision creates meaning. In a world where talented people have options, meaning is the ultimate competitive advantage for attracting and retaining great people.

Question 2: What is our market?

You cannot serve everyone. The attempt to do so serves no one well.

Market clarity answers:

Who specifically do we serve?
What problems do they have that we solve?
Why do they choose us over alternatives?
What customer should we NOT pursue?

The dangerous trap: Defining your market too broadly. "Small to medium businesses" isn't a market—it's a category containing millions of diverse organizations with different needs.

The breakthrough: Narrow markets create focus. Focus creates excellence. Excellence attracts adjacencies. The path to scale often runs through specialization first.

Why it matters: Every strategic decision—product, pricing, messaging, channels—depends on market clarity. Confusion here cascades through everything.

Question 3: What is our strategy?

Strategy isn't a plan. It's a theory of how you win.

Strategy clarity answers:

What is our unique approach to serving our market?
What trade-offs are we making?
What will we NOT do?
How does this strategy create sustainable advantage?

The most important word in strategy: "No." Strategy is as much about what you won't do as what you will. Without clear "no" decisions, you have a wish list, not a strategy.

Good strategy elements:

A diagnosis of the challenge
A guiding policy for addressing it
Coherent actions that implement the policy

Why it matters: Without strategy, effort disperses. Teams work on different priorities. Resources spread thin. Competitors who focus beat competitors who don't.

Question 4: What is our business model?

How do you create, deliver, and capture value?

Business model clarity answers:

What value do we create?
How do we deliver that value?
How do we capture a portion of that value (revenue)?
What is our cost structure?
What makes this model sustainable?

The unit economics test: Can you explain how one customer transaction creates profit? If the math doesn't work at the unit level, scale only accelerates losses.

Business model innovation: Often, the breakthrough isn't a new product—it's a new model for delivering value. Netflix didn't invent video entertainment. They invented a new way to deliver it.

Why it matters: A brilliant strategy with a broken business model is a fast path to bankruptcy. Model and strategy must align.

Question 5: What is our customer experience?

How does a customer move from awareness to advocacy?

Customer experience clarity answers:

How do customers discover us?
What is the buying process?
How do customers use what we provide?
What creates exceptional satisfaction?
What turns customers into advocates?

The journey map: Document the complete customer journey—every touchpoint, every emotion, every decision point. Where are the friction points? Where are the delight opportunities?

The experience gap: The gap between what customers expect and what they experience is either your competitive advantage or your vulnerability. There is no neutral.

Why it matters: In a world of abundant choice, experience differentiates. Products can be copied. Experiences are harder to replicate.

Question 6: What is our employee experience?

How do people move from applicants to ambassadors?

Employee experience clarity answers:

How do we attract the right people?
How do we develop and grow people?
How do we retain great performers?
What is our culture?
How do employees experience working here?

The employee journey: Just like customers, employees have a journey—from application through onboarding, development, promotion, and eventually departure or alumni status. Each stage shapes engagement.

The culture reality: Culture isn't what you say—it's what you tolerate. The gap between espoused values and actual behavior is the credibility gap that erodes trust.

Why it matters: Customer experience cannot exceed employee experience. Disengaged employees cannot create engaged customers.

Question 7: What is our enabling technology?

What systems and tools enable everything above?

Technology clarity answers:

What technology supports our customer experience?
What technology supports our employee experience?
What technology supports our operational excellence?
What technology creates competitive advantage?
What technology creates vulnerability?

The integration imperative: Fragmented technology creates fragmented experiences. When customer data lives in one system, project status in another, and communication in a third, coherent experience becomes impossible.

Technology as strategy: In 2026, technology isn't just support—it's often the strategy itself. AI, automation, and platform dynamics reshape competitive landscapes.

Why it matters: Technology amplifies everything—both strengths and weaknesses. The right technology accelerates strategy. The wrong technology constrains it.

Using the 7 Questions

For Strategic Planning

Work through each question sequentially. Earlier questions inform later ones:

Vision sets direction
Market defines who you serve
Strategy determines how you win
Business model ensures sustainability
Customer experience designs delivery
Employee experience enables execution
Technology powers everything

Misalignment between questions creates strategic inconsistency that undermines results.

For Strategic Review

Periodically revisit each question:

Has our vision evolved?
Is our market definition still accurate?
Does our strategy still create advantage?
Is our business model still viable?
Is customer experience creating advocates?
Is employee experience creating engagement?
Is technology enabling or constraining us?

Conditions change. Answers must adapt. Questions remain constant.

For Team Alignment

Ensure leaders across the organization answer each question consistently:

Does marketing describe the same market as sales?
Does engineering understand the strategy?
Does HR know what customer experience we're creating?

Inconsistent answers reveal misalignment that needs resolution.

For Operational Decisions

When facing decisions, reference the questions:

Does this initiative serve our defined market?
Does this approach align with our strategy?
Does this action support our customer experience vision?

The questions become a filter for consistent decision-making.

The Leadership Curve Connection

The 7 Questions connect to what I call the Leadership Curve in Resolute—the growth path organizations follow from chaos to scale.

At each stage of growth, the questions have different answers:

Startup stage: Questions are in flux. Answers change weekly. That's appropriate—you're learning.

Growth stage: Questions need stable answers. Constant pivoting prevents scaling.

Scale stage: Questions need periodic refinement. But wholesale changes indicate something went wrong earlier.

Renewal stage: Questions get re-asked fundamentally. Disruption demands fresh thinking.

Knowing your stage shapes how you engage with the questions.

The Clarity Imperative

Strategic clarity isn't a luxury. In volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous environments, clarity is the only sustainable advantage.

Organizations with clarity:

Make faster decisions
Align resources effectively
Attract people who believe what they believe
Adapt to change without losing identity
Execute with coherence

Organizations without clarity:

Deliberate endlessly
Spread resources thin
Attract whoever applies
React chaotically to change
Execute with inconsistency

The 7 Questions provide the structure for creating and maintaining that clarity.

Start Today

You don't need a strategic planning retreat to begin.

This week: Write your current answers to all 7 questions. Don't overthink—capture what you believe today.

Next week: Share with your leadership team. Where do answers differ? Where is uncertainty? Where is clarity?

This quarter: Resolve the major inconsistencies. Align on the critical questions.

Ongoing: Revisit quarterly. Update as conditions change. Maintain alignment.

The questions themselves are simple. The discipline to engage with them consistently is what separates exceptional organizations from average ones.

Ready to apply the framework? Explore our Strategic Planning Template 2026 or see OKR Examples That Actually Work for translating strategy into measurable objectives.

The 7 Questions of Leadership framework is from Resolute: How Leaders Create Clarity by Stuart Leo.