Most founders I meet can talk clearly about where they want the business to be in three years, revenue, markets, maybe even a raise or exit horizon. When I ask what the business will look like if they hit that plan, they can usually tell me.
When I ask, “What’s your talent strategy to get there — who you’ll need, how they’ll work together, and how that changes from today?” the answers are much less certain. We talk about loyal people, rising stars and a few nagging doubts. But rarely about a clear talent plan.
This isn’t about blame. It’s about naming a quiet gap that shows up in many high-growth businesses and helping you build a plan to address it.
Why this gap shows up (even in good businesses)
Most of the founders I work with haven’t neglected their people. They’ve hired carefully, stuck with good people, and in many cases built strong loyalty.
The gap appears because the business plan and the talent strategy have grown on different timelines. The business has hit milestones organically. Roles have evolved around individuals rather than around a long-term picture. New opportunities have been taken quickly, without revisiting the overall team design.
That works, up to a point.
Here’s what it costs you when it stops working.
You find yourself making hiring decisions in reaction to pain rather than in service of a plan. Someone leaves and you scramble. A role gets too big for the person in it and you avoid the conversation for longer than you should. You bring someone in who’s brilliant — but brilliant for a company half your size, or twice it.
The team you have right now was built for where you were. Not necessarily for where you’re going.
And quietly, underneath the day-to-day, there’s a question most founders are carrying: can this team actually deliver the opportunity in front of us? Not just keep things ticking. Actually deliver it.
Growth starts to rely on a few individuals. The founder feels increasingly central to every decision. And it becomes harder to see clearly whether the current team is set up for what’s next — or just for what’s already happened.
This is usually the moment a founder says some version of: “I’ve got a good team… but I’m not sure they’re the team that will get us to the next stage.”
That uncertainty doesn’t go away by working harder. It goes away by getting clear.
Plan: where your talent strategy gets real
In the 5P’s™ model — Plan, Proposition, Promote, Process, Perform. Plan is the foundation. It’s where you turn “we want to grow” into “this is the talent strategy we need to make that realistic.”
We start with three straightforward questions. What is the prize you’re aiming for — scale, sell, or both, and over what timeframe? If you hit that prize, what does the business actually look like, not just the revenue line, but the functions, teams and key roles? And ignoring who you have right now, what skills, capabilities and behaviours will you need inside the business to deliver that?
Only after we’ve answered those do we come back to your current team and ask: how does today’s reality compare with that future picture?
At this point, we’re not judging people. We’re looking at where you already have the strengths you’ll need, where you have rising stars who could be developed, and where there are gaps or single points of failure. That’s your talent strategy beginning to take shape.
A quick metaphor, because it’s how my brain works.
The way most founders approach people is a bit like hosting a dinner party with no guest list. You know you want a brilliant evening. You’ve invited some great people over the years. But on the night, you realise three people brought the same dish, no one remembered dessert, and you’re still the one running between the kitchen and the table trying to keep everyone happy.
A talent strategy is where you decide who needs to be at the table, what they’re bringing, and how it all fits together — before the night of the party. Some of the people you already have may simply need a different seat. Others might be brilliant, but better suited to a different dinner party than the one you’re hosting now.
That’s the uncomfortable truth a lot of founders feel in their gut but haven’t yet written down.
The 3T’s™: how you act on your talent strategy
A strategy without actions can feel abstract. To make it practical, I use a simple lens with founders: Training, Technology, Talent — the 3T’s™.
Once we’ve mapped the future team against the current reality, we look at each gap and ask: is there someone here who could grow into this with the right support? Could better systems change the shape of the work? Or is this a gap that genuinely needs new talent from outside?
The example I see most often: the initial instinct is “we need to hire a senior leader.” Once we look at the roles and capabilities properly, it becomes “we can elevate this internal person with some coaching, bring in better tools to streamline existing processes, and make one targeted external hire to fill the remaining gap.” The decisions become clearer — and crucially, less emotional. Instead of “I feel bad about changing this person’s role,” you’re asking “does this role, as currently defined, exist in the future we’re trying to build?”
How to sketch your first talent strategy
If you’ve never written any of this down before, it can feel daunting. A simple working version is more useful than a perfect model you never start.
Step 1 — Write down your prize and timeframe. In plain language: what are you aiming for in three years? Scale and stay, scale and sell, or something else? And how will your own role need to change to get there?
Step 2 — Describe the future team without naming people. List the core functions you’ll need. Under each one, note the key roles, what good looks like in skills, and what good looks like in behaviours. You’re not writing job descriptions — you’re sketching the building blocks of your future team.
Step 3 — Map today’s reality to that future picture. For each area: who you have, where they shine, where there are risks or gaps, and what they want next if you know it. This is where the quiet worries you’ve been carrying start to show up on paper in a more neutral way.
Step 4 — Apply the 3T’s™ to each gap. For each gap between the future picture and today, ask whether the best answer is Training, Technology or Talent. Be honest. If someone doesn’t want to grow into what the business needs, that’s useful information. It’s about fit, not about whether they’re a good or bad person.
Step 5 — Choose your next 90 days. You don’t need to fix everything at once. Choose three moves that will make the biggest difference to reducing risk and supporting growth — ideally one development move, one systems move, and one clear decision about a role or hire.
That’s your first version of a talent strategy: a clear link between where the business is going and the people decisions you’ll make to get there.
A starter you can use with your team
To make this easier, I’ve created a short Talent Strategy & Plan Starter — a simple worksheet you can download and use on your own or with your leadership team. It helps you capture the goals you’re aiming for, sketch the future team you’ll need, map your current people against that picture, and decide where to focus in the next 90 days.
Click here to download the Talent Strategy & Plan Starter
If completing it throws up more questions than answers, that’s normal. It usually means you’re finally seeing the talent strategy that’s been in your head for a while – and that’s exactly where the real work begins.