How to Launch a Strategy in a Year Built for Growth

For the first time in more than a decade, growth, not cost control, has reemerged as the dominant priority for CEOs. According to a recent survey by Gartner, 60% of chief executives now rank growth as their top business objective, the highest level recorded in ten years. This shift marks a meaningful change in executive mindset. Leaders are no longer planning primarily for defense. They are preparing to move.

Yet many organizations risk missing this moment.

The start of a new year often brings incremental tweaks to last year’s plan rather than a genuine strategic reset. Budgets are approved, targets are communicated, and teams quickly return to execution, often without revisiting whether the strategy itself is still fit for a changed environment.

For leaders serious about growth, Q1 is not simply the first quarter of execution. It is the best, and sometimes the only, window to relaunch strategy with intention.

Growth Requires More Than Optimism

Improved economic confidence alone does not produce growth. What distinguishes companies that capitalize on favorable conditions is not their ambition, but their willingness to realign the organization around it.

A growth-oriented strategy relaunch typically involves three deliberate moves.

1. Reframing the strategic narrative
Growth strategies fail when they sound like financial forecasts rather than leadership commitments. Executives must move beyond revenue targets and clearly articulate where growth will come from and why the organization is uniquely positioned to capture it. This means translating abstract goals into a small number of strategic bets that people can understand and rally behind.

2. Resetting priorities, not adding more
Many organizations enter the year with too many initiatives competing for attention. A growth mindset demands focus. Leaders should ask a difficult question early in Q1. Which activities will we stop or deprioritize to free capacity for growth? Without this discipline, growth strategies collapse under operational overload.

3. Aligning leaders before aligning teams
Strategy execution rarely fails because employees do not understand the plan. It fails because leaders interpret it differently. Before cascading goals, senior teams must align on trade-offs, success metrics, and decision rights. Without this alignment, the organization experiences friction disguised as healthy debate.

Why Q1 Matters More Than Any Other Quarter

The beginning of the year offers a unique leadership advantage: attention.
Teams are naturally more receptive to direction. Performance narratives are not yet locked in. Habits are still forming. This creates a narrow window where leaders can reset expectations and behaviors without triggering resistance.

High-performing organizations use this period to convene strategy workshops, leadership offsites, or enterprise-wide town halls, not as symbolic gestures, but as working sessions. These forums serve a critical purpose. Translating strategic intent into clear priorities at the business-unit and functional level.
When done well, teams leave with answers to three questions that matter most.

• What will we do differently this year?
• How will we measure progress?
• Where do leaders expect us to take intelligent risks?

From Strategy on Paper to Strategy in Motion

A relaunch is not a rebranding exercise. It is a recommitment to choices.

Executives who successfully reignite growth treat strategy as a living system. One that connects long-term ambition with near-term action. They reinforce it through leadership behaviors, resource allocation, and consistent communication, not just slide decks.

The signal to the organization is unmistakable. This is not last year’s plan with a new headline. This is a renewed direction.

As confidence returns to the market, the real differentiator will be execution clarity. The companies that win in 2026 will not be those with the boldest growth aspirations, but those that used the opening months of the year to align their people, sharpen their focus, and move decisively.

A Final Thought for Leaders

A growth strategy is only as strong as the organization’s ability to align around it and execute it well. Many leadership teams sense the opportunity in front of them, but struggle to turn ambition into coordinated action.

At Thrivence, we work with executive teams at pivotal moments like this. We help leaders clarify strategic choices, align their teams, and translate direction into momentum that lasts beyond Q1.

If you are reassessing your strategy for the year ahead and want a trusted, experienced partner to help you move from intent to execution, we would welcome the conversation.