strategy planning facilitation for leadership teams
Make your next leadership workshop count with an expert strategy planning facilitator
When a leadership team plans strategy together, something remarkable happens. They don’t just produce a plan, they commit to getting it done.
A professional strategy planning facilitator keeps your leaders focused, manages the group dynamics that derail most planning sessions, and guides your team to true alignment. The result is not just a strategy document; it’s your unified team with clarity and understanding of where you’re going and how you’re going to get there.
what is a strategy planning facilitator and how can they help you?
Your strategy planning facilitator designs and guides your leadership team’s planning process. They make sure every voice is heard, and all perspectives considered, so your team leaves with alignment and commitment to action.
Your facilitator is there to ensure your conversation unfolds constructively, that key assumptions are tested, and that every decision is collectively owned.
Your turning Leaf executive facilitator takes responsibility for the agenda, pace, group dynamics, and outcomes. Their job is to draw out the best thinking from the room, surface the real issues, challenge comfortable assumptions, and guide your leadership team to decisions that everyone commits to.
This is very different from an internal team member “running the day.” When someone within the organisation leads the discussion, they are inevitably a participant, with their own views, their own relationships, and their own hierarchical position to manage.
An independent offsite facilitator unlocks productive conversation, build genuine strategic alignment, and leave with a plan that has 100% team commitment.
benefits: what you get with an expert facilitator
1
Rapid Alignment
Dissolved functional silos and a leadership team pulling together around shared strategic priorities.
2
100% Team Commitment
Leaders take personal ownership because they were part of building the plan, not handed it.
3
Clear Accountability
Structured facilitation produces firm decisions with named owners, not vague intentions.
4
Shared Strategic Understanding
The team surfaces common ground, resolves tensions and commits to moving forward with confidence.
5
Stronger Relationships
Shared honest conversation builds trust and respect across leadership teams, laying the groundwork for real collaboration.
6
Momentum After the Workshop
The process builds energy and excitement that carries leaders back into their organisations ready to act.
when to use a strategy planning facilitator?
A facilitated strategy planning workshop is the right choice when the quality of your leadership team’s thinking and the strength of their alignment will determine whether your strategy succeeds.
Most leadership planning sessions can benefit from an independent, professional facilitator.
If your team faces a significant decision, is in a period of change, or has to prepare its annual or three-year plan, a professional planning workshop facilitator will improve both the quality of the output and (most importantly) your team's commitment to executing it.
A facilitated strategy planning method is especially effective when:
1. You, or your leadership team is new, has not planned together before
2. Your leaders have a history of alignment challenges or tend to work in silos and plan by function.
3. You are entering a new market, launching a new product, or undergoing structural change.
4. You need to have a difficult or honest conversation about what is and is not working with your current strategy.
5. Your previous planning sessions have produced a document but not genuine buy-in or impact (or worse, is ignored).
6. You are a board or executive team that needs to reconnect around a shared direction to improve personal relationships and information flow.
7. You want your strategy workshop to be a catalyst for cultural alignment as well as strategic clarity.
why choose turning leaf for your strategy planning?
We've spent two decades running strategy planning workshops across hundreds of organisations. Our approach is fast, focused and cost-effective. It’s centred on the highest-impact point in your strategy: making sure your leaders are aligned.
We know what makes the difference between a workshop that energises and aligns a team, and one that everyone forgets within a week.
At Turning Leaf, our approach is simple. We believe that a plan built together is a plan that gets done, and our entire methodology is designed around that principle.
Our facilitators have all held leadership roles in major organisations. They understand the pressures your leaders are under, the political dynamics that can make or break a workshop, and the facilitation techniques that unlock genuine, productive conversation at the executive level.
turning leaf proven 6 step process
1. discovery and pre-work
Before your workshop, we create surveys and stakeholder interviews to understand your organisation’s context, challenges, and the issues that need to be surfaced. This surfaces the real issues, uncovers hidden tensions, and ensures your facilitator walks into the room deeply familiar with your organisation, your team, and the key questions you need to answer. There are no surprises on the day.
2. your agenda design
We design your stratgy planning workshop agenda to match your specific objectives, not a generic template. We decide together what conversations need to happen, in what order, and how much time each deserves. The agenda is purposeful and flexible, allowing for the deep dives that matter while keeping energy and momentum high throughout.
3. frame the challenge
We brief all participants clearly on the process before the day begins. People perform better when they know what they are walking into. Clear expectations reduce anxiety, raise engagement, and mean your team arrives ready to think and contribute. When everyone is clear on the crux of your strategic problem, they can create options and choices for consideration
4. your workshop
On the day — whether a half day, full day, or multi-day residential retreat, your Turning Leaf facilitator leads the group through the agreed agenda. They manage the dynamics of the room, draw out quieter voices, respectfully challenge comfortable assumptions, and keep the group on track without suppressing the conversations that really matter. The facilitator drives you but does not influence you. The thinking, and therefore the ownership, stays with your team.
5. strategy into action
Great facilitation produces great conversations. We guide your leaders through translating strategic direction into practical priorities, initiatives and accountabilities that can actually be executed. Great outcomes require great follow-through. At the close of your workshop, your facilitator ensures the group has captured clear decisions, named owners, and committed timelines. Nothing is left ambiguous.
6. post-offsite output
We provide a structured summary of key decisions made, strategic priorities, and action items from the day. These are delivered the next day so the momentum is not lost. Many clients return to this document as a living reference throughout their planning cycle. When needed, we provide debriefs and follow-ups after each strategy-planning session to hold the team accountable.
what leaders like you say about working with turning leaf
“Thank you so much for the fabulous offsite yesterday — it really achieved all I was hoping for, and more. We nailed the reconnect. And now that 24 hours has passed and I’ve had time to reflect, I feel we’ve finished with a really rich set of ideas that we can develop, as a team.”
Danusia Cameron
Registrar General
NSW Government
“Matt simplified the strategy setting process in a way that made sense for our organisation, and left us feeling empowered to continue the journey.”
Chris Taylor
CEO, AMPC
“I have participated in many such workshops over the past 40 or so years and rate your manner, approach and style as the best I have experienced. It’s even better to walk away with a sense of achievement from reaching agreed, realistic and practical outcomes.”
Rob Ewen Director
Muru Mittigar
“Turning Leaf has been instrumental in our strategic planning for two years running. Their innovative approach was engaging and productive, culminating in a clear, professional strategic plan that has genuinely energised the team.”
Rhett Kentwell CEO, Care1
“Thank you for facilitating such a wonderful and productive strategic planning session. The feedback from participants has been positive, and I’m still feeling happy about it.”
Dominic Aouad
Australian Dental Association NSW
what makes turning leaf different?
1
we understand your challenge
We understand the challenges you face because our facilitators have all held leadership roles in major firms and managed complex businesses.
2
results driven
We only deliver facilitated strategy workshops with measurable deliverables. Strategy guides implementation and massive action from your team.
3
masters of team alignment
No one is better at aligning leadership teams and getting them to commit to action than a Turning Leaf strategy planning facilitator.
4
transformation ready
Our facilitators specialise in transformational change, strategy development, and complex planning environments.
5
proven process
For over 20 years, we have refined our facilitation process across hundreds of engagements. It is tested, trusted, and continuously improved.
6
accredited specialists
All Turning Leaf facilitators are trained and accredited in large-group facilitation techniques - not generalists learning on your time.
what workshop participants say
“The facilitator really got the best out of the team and kept us focused yet allowed us to run when needed.”
“The structured approach captured the goals and actions to take forward, keeping us on track but still allowing open discussion.”
“Engagement from the facilitator did not just give us an answer, but rather gently pushed the group towards coming up with our own answers and strategies. The team feels more aligned and excited about the strategy.”
“It was a well-run two days with sufficient time to discuss topics, challenge norms, move forward, and align on the best path.”
“Great approach — pushing us to clarify, and stress-testing our ideas, findings, reasoning, and decisions.”
“I don’t think we would have achieved what we did without the gentle guidance and structured approach.”
why you should use an external facilitator?
1
Strategic Alignment
Every leader leaves with a shared understanding of direction and a personal commitment to making the plan work. It becomes the team’s plan.
2
Better Decisions, Faster
A skilled strategy session facilitator surfaces the issues that would otherwise simmer for months and creates the conditions for confident, collective decision-making and accountability.
3
Every Voice in the Room
A facilitator draws out the people who don’t always speak up, and these are often the people with the most valuable perspectives to share.
4
Accountable Planning
Structured strategy facilitation holds the group accountable and produces firm actions and initiatives with clear owners and next steps.
5
Safe Challenge
An independent strategic facilitation expert gives leaders permission to question assumptions, challenge each other constructively, and explore issues and opportunities.
6
Your Plan Gets Implemented
When leaders are involved in building the plan, they own the plan. A plan with ownership gets individual and team commitment and action.
strategy planning case studies
energy sector newly formed board and executive team
A fast-growing energy business needed to align a newly assembled board and executive team on a long-term strategy for a complex, shifting market. Turning Leaf conducted pre-workshop interviews and a staff survey, then facilitated a two-day residential offsite.
The leaders successfully aligned on market assumptions and competitive priorities, co-creating a unified vision, value proposition, and strategy across multiple potential futures. The organisation left with 100% team commitment and a clear implementation roadmap.
nsw government team reconnect and strategy reset
Following a period of significant internal change, a senior government leadership team needed to reconnect, rebuild trust, and develop a rich set of ideas for the year ahead.
Turning Leaf facilitated a one-day offsite that achieved all of the client’s reconnection goals, and generated a genuinely rich strategic pipeline.
The client noted that the team was still running on the momentum from the offsite a full 24 hours later.
national insurance organisation strategy robustness testing
A national insurance body needed to align its leadership team around a new strategic direction following a significant market disruption.
Turning Leaf conducted pre-workshop interviews across the senior leadership group, then facilitated a full-day strategy planning workshop. The group emerged with a unified view of strategic priorities and a clear 12-month action plan, with every leader personally committed to a specific area of implementation.
statewide care and community services
Facing severe regulatory pressure and unclear strategic direction, a care division needed to reconnect its board and leadership around a shared plan.
Turning Leaf facilitated a full strategy planning session that surfaced key tensions, aligned all stakeholders on priorities, and produced a clear strategic direction with genuine commitment from every board member and leader.
fast start: we know your industry
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Government Departments
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FMCG (consumer goods)
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Construction & Property
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Building supplies
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Manufacturing
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Automotive
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Government
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Agriculture
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Food & Beverages
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Property (Residential & Commercial)
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Medical and Dental
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Software
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Government Owned Corporations
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Luxury Branded Goods
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Retail, Fashion and e-commerce
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Financial Services and Insurance
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Utilities and Telecommunications
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Financial Services and Investment
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Mining and Infrastructure
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Professional Services
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Franchising
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Pharmaceutical Services
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Waste & Recycling
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Not For Profit
ask us about our flagship facilitation modules
advanced strategy formation
Strategy development by the people who will be responsible for it. This workshop is for when you have a team that needs to work together to win against competitors and to delight customers.
ai transformation
Is your strategy ready for the coming wave of AI opportunities and challenges? Have you identified where in your value chain artificial intelligence can add the greatest value? This module unlocks the potential for AI in your business.
path to growth
Sales and marketing alignment to win in consumer categories. For when you need proven growth drivers to win in retail, e-commerce and with brands. Brings together category management, sales, and brand growth essentials.
strategy into action
Implementation planning. For when the rubber hits the road - you need a GAME plan (Goals, Activities, Measurement, Evaluation)
role clarity and silo busting
Team formation at its best. Role clarity and working in silos are now classed as psycho-social safety hazards under WHS legislation. Proper team formation is a level 1 control for these risks because it eliminates lack of clarity at the source.
team alignment intensive
Developing a high-performance team. For when you have a team with a challenge and you need to bring them together to work efficiently and effectively to get the outcome you need.
b2b builder
Specialist strategy formation for businesses selling to other business and government. For when your B2B sales proposition needs to generate more interest in buyers without alientating the procurement department.
cx magic
Putting your customer at the heart of your business through Customer Journey. For when you need to improve your customer experience by mapping their journey and identifying critical strengths and weaknesses.
facilitation fees
The cost of professional facilitation varies considerably depending on the specific needs of your team, the numbers involved and the outcomes required.
Fees can range from as little as $6,500 for smaller groups with fewer challenges up to $50,000 for much larger groups with business-critical requirements.
Other drivers of cost include:
On-site or off-site facilitation
Pre-work and research requirements
Post-workshop follow up
Administration needs (eg safety or compliance)
Special requests
The best next step is for us to have a chat about the kind of outcomes you need and how we can ensure you achieve them.
faqs: strategy planning
1
What is a strategy planning workshop?
A strategy planning workshop is a structured session that helps a leadership team clarify its direction, test priorities and make better strategic choices. It creates time and space for leaders to step back from day-to-day operations and focus on the bigger picture.
2
When should a leadership team run a strategy planning session?
A leadership team should run a strategy planning session when it needs clearer direction, better alignment or stronger commitment around future priorities. This is especially valuable during growth, market change, organisational transition or when leaders are pulling in different directions.
3
What outcomes should come from a strategy planning workshop?
A good strategy planning workshop should produce clearer strategic priorities, stronger leadership alignment, agreed choices and greater commitment to implementation. It should leave the team with practical next steps rather than just discussion
4
Why use a facilitator for strategy planning?
Using a facilitator for strategy planning allows leaders to concentrate fully on the strategic conversation rather than trying to run the session themselves. A skilled strategy facilitator brings structure, neutrality and momentum, helping the group reach clearer and more useful outcomes.
5
How long does a strategy planning workshop usually take?
Most strategy planning workshops run for one or two days depending on the complexity of the issues and the number of stakeholders involved. Two days is often more effective because it gives the leadership team enough time to explore options properly and build genuine alignment.