I left the Edge Leadership session feeling grateful. So much wisdom was shared. Diverse perspectives. Hard-won insights. Useful reminders about how we lead, what leadership demands, and where our work needs to go next.

There were a few questions after Vusi Thembekwayo’s keynote, and he responded like the coach that he is—with more questions.

Questions move us. They don’t just explain what’s happening. They shift our perspective.

• Do you know your customer?
• Does your customer really need what you’re offering—or are you making an assumption?
• How are you positioning your business?
• Are you truly committed—or just hoping something sticks?

These questions demand clarity and I tell my clients all the time

Clarify before you amplify.

Because you cannot scale what you haven’t fully seen yet an you cannot fix what you haven’t faced.

Here’s the question I believe every business owner and executive leader needs to ask first, before doing anything else:

What will it really take to leverage people-potential and expertise, transform my business, get real results, and maximize profits?

There are plenty of strategies. Frameworks. Mentors. Books. Consultants.
And there’s value in all of it.

This questions zeroes in on you and the business you’re in. It’s not someone else’s blueprint. It’s not what worked in a different industry or under different leadership. It’s your people, your business, your vision, your structure.

What will it take—for you?

Bob Lutz, former Vice Chairman of General Motors, spent years watching what happens when a business starts making decisions based on internal politics and spreadsheet logic instead of clarity, instinct, and product excellence.

In his book – Car Guys vs. Bean Counters: The Battle for the Soul of American Business, he made this point in critiquing General Motors:

The problem wasn’t a lack of smart people—it was having the wrong people in charge. They designed for consensus instead of clarity.

Lutz believed that business performance follows product brilliance—not the other way around.

And I’d argue the same about your people.

Alignment isn’t a byproduct of metrics. It’s the result of intentional design.

Asking the hard question—what will it really take?—reveals:

• What roles need redefining
• Where brilliance is being wasted
• What systems are helping—and which are getting in the way
• Whether the business is actually designed to deliver what you’re trying to achieve

I’ve come to believe that alignment is liberation. And this question is one of the ways we get there. It is the willingness to stop pretending what you’re doing is working.

Strategic Reflection: Where might this question lead you if you allowed it to guide your next decision?

Earl Nightingale suggests this with regard to your goals. He suggested that we take a blank sheet of paper, write the significant goal we presently have at the top, and write a list of ideas about how we can meet that goal. He said to do this for one hour a day, five days a week, every week. That would be 260 hours a year thinking about how to do what we want to do.

What could surface for you if you wrote the question at the top of the page and listed 20 answers to the question daily? Is it challenging? Sure. But I suspect you will begin to truly unearth the diamonds beneath the surface of all the distractions and self doubt, providing you with just the guidance YOU need, to scale.

Ready to explore what this question might mean for your business?

Book a Clarity Conversation™ with me here or send me a quick message if you’d prefer chat that way first.