Work With True North Strategy
Limited engagements.
Full attention.
True North Strategy accepts a limited number of engagements at any time. That ceiling is not a marketing tactic. It is the actual limit required to deliver the depth of diagnosis, design, and implementation that makes this work hold. When capacity is full, it is full. When it opens, inquiries on file are reviewed first.
There is a belief that the right consultant is the one with the most sophisticated diagnosis. I have watched organizations pay six figures for a diagnosis that was completely accurate and completely useless, because it stopped at the description. The problem was named. Nothing was built. The team went back to the same meeting cycles and the same breakdown six months later. The problem is structural. The fix has to be built into the operating architecture, not delivered in a document. That is the only version of this work I know how to do.
Is this your situation
The structural gaps that bring founders to True North Strategy show up in predictable patterns.
These are not edge cases. They are the conditions that research consistently identifies as the primary drivers of execution failure in scaling organizations, and the situations founders describe when they reach out.
Pattern 01
Strategy exists. Operational execution is running a different version of it.
Research consistently shows that the majority of well-formulated strategies fail at the execution stage, not because the strategy is wrong, but because the strategic priority never became an operational priority at the next level down.1 What the team is building toward is their interpretation of the direction, not what was actually decided.
Pattern 02
You are spending 40% of your time on decisions that should not be yours to make.
McKinsey research shows executives spend an average of 40% of their time on decisions and believe most of that time is poorly used.2 The time is not the problem. The missing decision rights structure is. Your team escalates not because they lack confidence, but because no one has defined what they are authorized to decide.
Pattern 03
61% of executives say at least half their decision-making time is ineffective.
Time is not the only cost. Decision quality suffers in the same structural conditions. When clarity of ownership is absent and the mechanism for translating strategy into operational action was never built, even capable teams default to the wrong call; not because they are wrong, but because the structure was never built to help them be right.3
Pattern 04
72% of senior executives say bad strategic decisions are as frequent as good ones or are the norm.
This is not a people problem or an effort problem. It is a structural one. Organizations where decision rights are undefined, where strategic priorities do not operationalize at the next level, and where accountability is assumed rather than assigned produce this outcome predictably, regardless of the quality of the people inside them.4
Pattern 05
A leadership change, merger, or reorg left the team executing two different operating models simultaneously.
Three-quarters of organizational redesigns fail to meet their stated objectives or improve performance.5 Not because the structural intent was wrong. Because redesigns address reporting lines without rebuilding the operating infrastructure that carries work across functions, roles, and priorities.
Pattern 06
The business cannot scale further without you personally in every critical process.
Only 20% of organizations say they excel at decision making.6 The other 80% are operating inside a structural gap that compounds with every hire, every growth stage, and every new initiative. The organizations that close it are not smarter or better resourced. They built the architecture that let their teams act without the founder in every room.
The structural gap is real. The question is whether you are ready to diagnose it precisely and build the actual fix.
who this is for
True North Strategy engagements are built for one specific buyer in one specific situation.
Think of it the way a surgeon specializes: not because general medicine is less valuable, but because a specific kind of problem requires a specific kind of precision. This engagement is for organizations experiencing structural execution failure with 20-250 employees. If that is not your situation, there is a better tool for what you are dealing with.
This is the right fit if:
You are a founder, CEO, or senior operator with real authority to implement structural changes inside your organization
Your organization has 10 to 100 employees and $1M or more in revenue, and execution is breaking in patterns you cannot pinpoint
You have lived through one or more of the trigger events above and know the structural problem is real
You are willing to start with a diagnosis before deciding on a solution, even if you think you already know what is wrong
You want direct feedback delivered clearly, not a diplomatically softened version that leaves room for ambiguity
You want the organization to operate correctly without a consultant in the room once the system is built
This is not the right fit it if:
You are pre-revenue or pre-team and need strategy development rather than execution infrastructure
You believe the problem is primarily a people or motivation issue and are not open to a structural diagnosis
You want a consultant to manage ongoing work rather than build internal capability and hand it off
You are not willing to commit to defined guardrails, clear ownership, and a phase-gated implementation structure
You need ongoing strategy consulting rather than operational clarity and operating system design
engagement options
Two ways to engage True North Strategy.
Guided Fix
90-Day Leader Reset
By Inquiry
Pricing discussed on Diagnostic Debrief call
90-Day Leader Reset
Diagnosis already done. Now build the fix in 90 days.
The 90-Day Leader Reset is designed for founders who have completed the Execution Index Diagnostic and need implementation support that moves faster than the self-directed path allows. Many founders believe a discovery call is how the diagnosis happens. That belief costs everyone involved 45 minutes. The discovery call is where the implementation plan begins. Founders who arrive with their archetype profile already in hand get a more precise engagement scope, a faster start, and a measurably better outcome. The Diagnostic is the prerequisite, not the starting point.
Every Reset produces a 90-day roadmap with defined milestones, clear ownership on every deliverable, and a structured evaluation of whether ongoing advisory support makes sense at the close.
Execution Index Diagnostic required before discovery call
Archetype-specific operating system design from day one
90-day implementation roadmap with milestones and accountability checkpoints
Bi-weekly working sessions throughout the engagement
Defined guardrails at every phase with clear phase-gate criteria
Advisory engagement evaluation built into the day-90 close
Ongoing Partnership
Operational Clarity Advisory
Sustained advisory for organizations in active growth.
The advisory engagement is for organizations that have completed a Reset and need sustained support as the operating system matures under scaling pressure. Advisory clients receive direct access to the True North Strategy team for operational decisions, architecture questions, and execution accountability. Not a monthly check-in. An active working partnership.
Decisions get made. Problems get named clearly. Scope creep gets cut before it takes hold. Guardrails are maintained as the organization scales into new complexity.
Direct access for ongoing operational questions and real-time decisions
Monthly structured working sessions with the leadership team
Architecture review as the organization encounters new scaling complexity
Accountability partner for Reset engagement commitments
Availability Note: True North Strategy accepts a limited number of engagements at any time to ensure every client receives the depth of work the engagement requires. Inquiries are reviewed in order received. Complete the Execution Index Diagnostic before submitting an inquiry. Founders who arrive pre-diagnosed move faster and get more from the engagement.
COhort Based Implementation
Execution Bootcamp
Peer groups for accountability and support.
For founders who have completed the Execution Index Diagnostic and want structured peer implementation with direct facilitation. Bootcamp cohorts are organized by pillar, not archetype, which means you build alongside founders working through the same structural dimension, with facilitation calibrated to the shared gap.
A faster path than fully self-directed work, and a more accessible entry point than a 1:1 engagement. Pricing is discussed at enrollment based on cohort timing and availability.
Cohort structure. Pillar-based groups. Leaders working through the same dimension build alongside each other with facilitated sessions and peer accountability.
Diagnostic required. Bootcamp participants complete the Execution Index Diagnostic before enrollment. Your archetype profile informs your cohort placement and your role badges inside the bootcamp community.
Not every structural problem starts as a crisis.
Most founders hit the execution wall at $5M to $15M because they built the business on informal systems that were never designed to scale. The founders who build the operating architecture before they hit that wall spend less, scale faster, and never become the bottleneck in their own organization. These two engagements are built for that earlier stage.
Diagnosis · 30 Days
30-Day Diagnosis Package
A complete structural diagnosis of your organization before the breakdown begins. Not a framework overview. A specific, named assessment of which structural layers are at risk, which are already showing early failure signals, and what to build first to prevent the execution wall from arriving on schedule.
You leave with your archetype profile, urgency calibration, and a prioritized build sequence your team can act on immediately. No implementation is included. This is the diagnosis. Everything else follows from it.
Full Execution Index Diagnostic with archetype confirmation
30-day structural assessment with direct engagement
Named structural gaps and urgency calibration
Prioritized build sequence your team can execute
INVESTMENT
$3,500 flat
Ongoing Advisory · Quarterly
Quarterly Advisory Retainer
Ongoing structural accountability without a full implementation engagement. One call per month, quarterly diagnostic re-run included, and async access between sessions. Available to earlier-stage founders building proactively and to primary ICP clients who have completed a 90-Day Reset and want to maintain structural integrity as they scale.
The quarterly diagnostic re-run identifies archetype shifts and urgency escalations before they compound. This is the mechanism that makes a 3 to 5 year trusted advisor relationship work: your structural picture stays current and the advice stays calibrated to where you actually are.
One advisory call per month
Quarterly Diagnostic re-run included (tracks archetype shifts)
Async access between sessions
Advisory only. Active build work is a separate engagement.
INVESTMENT
$1,500/month billed quarterly · early-stage
$2,000/month billed quarterly · post-reset
Execution Index Diagnostic required before enrollment. Tier determined at inquiry.
Also available: Quarterly Diagnostic License
For past Diagnostic graduates who want to track structural progress independently. $145/quarter standalone, billed annually. Included at no additional cost in the Quarterly Advisory Retainer.
What Makes This Different
What a True North Strategy engagement actually delivers.
This is not a consulting engagement where someone explains your problem better than you already understand it. These are the specific outcomes every True North engagement is built to produce.
A precise diagnosis, not a framework overview
You will know exactly which dimension is failing, at what urgency level, and which of the 21 archetypes fits your organization. Think of the difference between a doctor saying "you seem run down" and a physician handing you a specific diagnosis with a specific treatment protocol. One is pattern recognition. The other is a plan. This is the second one.
Clear ownership on every decision and deliverable
No maybes. No ambiguous next steps. No scope creep. Every decision has a named owner and a defined path forward before the engagement moves to the next phase.
An operating system your team can run without us
Everything built in a True North engagement is designed for your team to operate independently once it is in place. The goal is infrastructure that holds correctly, not ongoing dependency on outside support.
Direct language, delivered clearly
You will hear what is actually happening in your organization. Not a softened version. The structural truth, with the ego removed from the room and the politics removed from the diagnosis.
wHAT TO EXPECT
How an engagement begins.
01
Submit an Inquiry
Complete the inquiry form below with your organization size, revenue range, and a specific description of what is breaking. No booking calendar. No automated pipeline. A direct submission reviewed by the True North Strategy team.
02
Fit conversation
If the inquiry fits the engagement criteria, the team will schedule a direct conversation to understand the structural situation and evaluate fit. This is not a discovery call designed to move you into a sales funnel. It is a fit evaluation.
03
Diagnostic phase
Every engagement builds on the Execution Index organizational diagnostic. No operating system is designed and no recommendation is made before the structural gap is named precisely and the urgency level is calibrated, then verified through leadership interviews and department head touchpoints.
04
Engagement begins
Design, build, and implementation with True North Strategy support throughout the 90-day structure. Facilitated leadership discussions to decide on defined guardrails, clear ownership, no maybes. An advisory evaluation is built into the close of every Reset engagement.
Advisory Note: You do not decide at the beginning whether you need ongoing support. You decide at day 90, when you can see what the system holds on its own and what still needs reinforcement.
INQUIRE
Complete the Diagnostic first. Then tell us what is happening.
The Execution Index Diagnostic is the prerequisite for every engagement inquiry. Founders who have not yet completed the Diagnostic should start there. It takes 20 minutes. It produces your full archetype profile. It is what makes the discovery call useful instead of diagnostic.
If you have completed the Diagnostic, submit the inquiry form. Include your archetype from your report. That information is what allows True North Strategy to evaluate fit and engagement scope before the diagnostic debrief call.
No pitch if it is not a fit. Wrong-fit clients do not produce good outcomes. I would rather name the mismatch early than take the engagement and deliver less than the work requires.
Pricing discussed on the Diagnostic Debrief call. Engagement scope and investment are confirmed once both parties understand the specific structural situation and urgency level. An engagement priced before the diagnosis is a guess. This is not a guess.
True North Strategy
Operational clarity for scaling founders. Built by someone who has been inside the breakdown and knows the difference between a structural fix and a rebranded problem.
Contact: [email protected]
Sources:
1. Harvard Business Review, "Turning Great Strategy into Great Performance," 2005; confirmed across McKinsey Global Survey studies. Peer-reviewed range 50–90%. Cândido & Santos, "Strategy Implementation: What Is the Failure Rate?" Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, 2015.
2. McKinsey & Company, "Make Faster, Better Decisions." Executives spend almost 40% of their time on decisions and believe most of that time is poorly used. mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/make-faster-better-decisions
3. McKinsey & Company, "What Is Decision Making?" March 2023. 61% of 1,200 survey respondents report at least half the time spent on decisions is ineffective. mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-decision-making
4. McKinsey & Company, "Untangling Your Organization's Decision Making," June 2017. 72% of senior-executive respondents said bad strategic decisions were about as frequent as good ones or were the prevailing norm. mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/untangling-your-organizations-decision-making
5. McKinsey & Company, "The Secrets of Successful Organizational Redesigns," July 2014. Survey of 2,063 executives: three-quarters of redesign efforts fail to meet objectives or improve company performance. mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-secrets-of-successful-organizational-redesigns-mckinsey-global-survey-results
6. McKinsey Global Survey on Decision Making, February 2018, n=1,259. Only 20% of respondents said their organizations excel at decision making. mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/decision-making-in-the-age-of-urgency