The leadership team had worked steadily to ensure the continued progress of the organization. They had engaged in exhaustive annual planning sessions. Their work in recent years had borne fruit: the company was poised to grow dramatically in their market.

The team had been through a lot. It had been a tough two years. Lots of turnover, customers leaving, vendors leaving them in the lurch. The Board had begun to question leadership’s strategies and the investors were becoming restless.

The leadership team had taken two days offsite to participate in the Compelling Journey™. They went away to a resort where they closeted themselves in intense conversation and debate about where they expected to lead the enterprise.

The organization had a healthy sales record and several seasoned professionals that headed up the business development group. The challenge was that the sales fell in low margin areas that caused a lot of churns in the operation and was difficult to get to the bottom line.

The business had grown slowly, steadily. The company faced financial headwinds and felt boxed in when opportunities presented themselves. They could see growth but struggled to find the right combination of people and product.

The business was mushrooming. Hard work and good positioning in the market created a number of healthy opportunities. The CEO and her team had weathered the difficult time of proving their bona fides and now they had several new projects that required attention and execution.

Everyone marvels at the incredible accuracy of space flight. The precision needed to get these missions off the ground is the stuff of legend. A little-known fact about the original trip to the moon was that, for all the talk of accuracy, that particular trip was off course almost 80% of the time! Nevertheless, the mission was completed, and the astronauts were on target when they got home.

Inventory backlogs plagued the company. A new system for tracking inventory has been deployed. The person responsible won’t use it, preferring to use an outdated approach.

What would cause someone to act a certain way despite a powerful personal reluctance to do so? Sergeant York did. Alvin York lived in the backwoods of Tennessee. As a young man, he was a hell-raiser and a tippler. According to the movie about his life, he experienced an event that inspired a strong faith journey.

The discussion of the Call-to-Action must not be taken lightly or glossed over too quickly. It sets the tone for the entire Compelling Journey. Leaders must be very clear on it and must also be prepared to explain thoroughly to their folks what it is and why it is essential to the organization.