Thoughtful goal-setting requires an holistic attentiveness to inputs and outputs that sustain the business. Choosing goals very wisely in order to cover the needs of multiple time horizons and groups of stakeholders is a skill worth prioritizing. When done well it drives a shared understanding of business drivers across all of a company’s team members. It also promotes balance across stakeholders and organization-wide measurement and alignment.

Sense-making is a critical task in leading any organization. Establishing the cause of problems (diagnosing) is exceedingly difficult for new leaders; and determining effective solutions (prescribing) is even harder. This exercise helps the new executive to pull apart the business’ core problems, versus causes of the problems, versus symptoms of the problems, versus potential solutions to the problems. It allows new CEOs to gain a 360-degree view of the business and develop clarity and conviction on a path forward.

Ask, listen, record. It’s deceptively simple and incredibly revealing. Use a set of open-ended, intentionally-worded questions to invite valuable discussion, surface weakness without finger-pointing and blame, and discover what’s critically important to people and how it ties to the broader health of the business.