Why 70% of strategic plans fail (and how to be in the 30% that succeed)
For 20 years, I've had a front-row seat to success and struggle.
As a PA and Chief of Staff for 20 years, I worked alongside a physician who built a thriving practice that made it look effortless. Brilliant operations, strong leadership presence, the emotional intelligence to handle complex dynamics with patients and staff.
In Los Angeles, I watched high-profile executives navigate massive pressure with grace. They had systems. They led with confidence. They managed human complexity without falling apart.
I have sat on boards with successful entrepreneurs, I see founders who've built impressive businesses without sacrificing their marriages, their health, or their sanity.
I always paid attention. I studied what made them different.
And then I started seeing more patterns.
Brilliant operators who couldn't delegate. Founders with incredible leadership skills drowning in operational chaos. Business owners who'd mastered both but froze when family dynamics entered the equation—guilt keeping the wrong person in a role, fear preventing the necessary conversation, identity so tangled with the business they couldn't see any other path.
Same industries. Similar revenue. Comparable challenges.
But completely different outcomes.
The ones who thrived? They didn't separate operations, leadership, and emotional intelligence. They built all three together.
The ones who struggled? They optimized one, maybe two, but never integrated all three.
And that's the pattern I see every single day now—working with family business leaders who are stuck in the same place.
Perhaps you're reviewing your Q4 2025 financials right now. Maybe revenue is up. Maybe you finally implemented that new system.
But here's the question I keep asking: Are you leading differently than you did three years ago?
Because McKinsey found that 70% of organizational transformations fail—not because the systems were wrong, but because leadership didn't evolve alongside them.
The Pattern Difference I Keep Seeing
After two and a half decades of watching both sides—the ones who figured it out and the ones who couldn't—I can tell you exactly what separates them.
It's not a smarter strategy. It's integration.
The leaders who burn out? They optimize operations but never develop as leaders.
The leaders who feel stuck? They work on leadership but never build systems to support it.
The leaders who succeed but feel empty? They master both but never address the emotional intelligence needed to navigate family dynamics and guilt-driven decisions.
What Nobody Talks About: Emotional Intelligence
Here's what I learned in 20 years as a medical provider: you can't separate the clinical from the human.
A patient's symptoms tell you part of the story. Their fear, their grief, their hope—that's what tells you how to actually help them.
Family businesses are the same.
Emotional intelligence is the bridge between operations and leadership.
I have worked with business leaders who built a perfect accountability system. It failed in a month.
Why? When long time team or family members who worked in the business missed targets, they look the other way when it comes to accountability. They say nothing. Because they don’t want to hurt others who are important to them.
I've been there. Growing up in a family business and building businesses with my husband, I know what it's like when business decisions ARE personal decisions. When the person you need to hold accountable is someone you love.
It's hard. And pretending it's not hard doesn't make it easier.
Why All Three Have to Evolve Together
The Family Business Institute found less than 30% of family businesses survive to the second generation.
Not because they're not capable. Because they separate what should be integrated.
You need all three:
Operations - Systems that actually work
Leadership - The capability to execute those systems
Emotional Intelligence - The ability to navigate family dynamics, recognize when fear or guilt is driving decisions, and have the hard conversations without destroying relationships
I care deeply about this because I've watched both sides—the ones who figured it out and the ones who couldn't.
The difference was always integration. And the cost of missing it is always too high.
The 30% that succeed? They don't choose. They integrate operations + leadership + emotional intelligence.
That's not three separate projects. That's one life you're building.
If your 2026 plan is missing one of these, you're setting yourself up to be in the 70% that fails—or worse, succeeds but feels empty doing it.
If this is hitting home, DM me "INTEGRATION" and let's talk. Together, we can unlock the pattern that is holding you back and build out a clear road map to reach your 2026 goals.
Until Next Time,
Kasey
P.S. In VIP Strategy Days, we build the integrated roadmap together. Not just the business plan—the LIFE plan. Because after 20 years of watching the difference between those who figured it out and those who struggled, I know exactly what integration looks like—and I refuse to help you grow a business that breaks you.