Strategy Onboarding

Why the step after the strategy workshop is the one that decides everything

Strategy Onboarding is the process that begins after the strategy workshop. Not the communication of results but the real arriving: with space for concerns, disagreement, and the possibility of finding one's own YES. Because ownership cannot be mandated. It emerges.

The strategy workshop went well. The goals are clear. The KPIs are set. The plan is worked out. And three months later, little has changed. This is not an isolated case. It is a pattern. And it has a reason.

1. Language reveals our thinking and shapes it

After strategy processes, the same phrases keep circulating in organizations:

"We need to bring people along." "We're getting everyone on board." "We're getting the team back on track."

What sounds like care is, in reality, a category error. Dr. Joachim Schlosser dissected this precisely in 2019 (schlosser.info): Anyone who needs to "pick people up" implies they aren't capable of moving on their own. Anyone who needs to "get people on board" probably pushed them into the water themselves. When you carry people along like luggage — no wonder so many end up looking worn out.

The problem is not the phrase alone. The problem is the thinking behind it. And what that thinking then sets in motion. Language is not a neutral tool. It is an expression of our thinking. And at the same time, it shapes it. Those who speak of "bringing people along" think in terms of bringing people along. And act accordingly. The result: leader = active subject.

Employees = passive object.

Exactly the opposite of what is needed after a strategy process.

2. The elephant and the rider — why rational alignment is not enough

There is an image from systems theory that I use again and again in my work: the rider on the elephant.

The rider is the rational mind. He knows the direction, he has the plan, he persuades, argues, explains. The elephant is the emotional, the physical, the experiential memory — the disappointments, the successes, the unspoken concerns. Large. Slow. And ultimately stronger.

What happens in most post-strategy processes? The rider is informed. Very well, even. The elephant is ignored. And then people wonder why nothing moves. No rider in the world can force an elephant in a direction against its will. He can only go with it — when the elephant recognizes the direction as its own.

This means: strategic alignment is not enough. It takes emotional arriving. Space for concerns. Space for disagreement. The possibility of finding one's own yes. Not because it is nicer. But because it works.

(The image goes back to moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt and is further developed in systemic practice — including by Gunther Schmidt.)

3. Strategy Onboarding — what concretely happens differently

What if the step after the strategy workshop were just as carefully thought through as the workshop itself? Not: "How do we communicate the results?" But: "How do people really arrive?" I call this Strategy Onboarding. Yes, I know: onboarding sounds like a first day at work. I use the term deliberately differently — as a counter-concept to the classic "bringing people along."

What happens differently in Strategy Onboarding, concretely?

• Concerns get space — not as a disruptive factor, but as information. Anyone who moderates resistance away loses exactly what they need: honest feedback.

• Disagreement is allowed — even without a solution. The message is not: everything is perfect. But rather: this is our direction, and we walk it together — with everything that is still open.

• Personal connection emerges — each person finds their own yes. Not one that is extracted from them. But one that grows.

  
  

This is not a softer approach. It is a more effective one. Because ownership cannot be mandated. It emerges when people feel: my voice counts. My concerns are heard. I'm on board — because I want to be.

Interested in Strategy Onboarding for your team?

I support leaders and teams in exactly this step: after the workshop, before implementation. If this topic resonates with you, I'd be glad to have an initial conversation.

Booking link: zeeg.me/jakobreinhart/20min

Sources & References Schlosser, J. (2019): Abholen, Mitnehmen, ins Boot holen — Management-Sprech seziert. schlosser.info Haidt, J. (2012): The Righteous Mind. Pantheon Books. Schmidt, G.: Einführung in die hypnosystemische Therapie und Beratung. Carl-Auer Verlag.