Strategic Planning Workshops in Manila That Deliver Bold Choices and Real Results

Most strategic planning sessions fail.

You know the drill. A hotel ballroom. Endless PowerPoints. A thick binder nobody reads again. Everyone goes back to work the next day… nothing shifts.

That’s not strategy. That’s paperwork.

Real strategy is choice.
It’s clarity on what matters most.
It’s courage to say no to distractions.
It’s alignment that moves people.

That’s what I deliver in Manila.
Fast, focused, practical workshops designed to help your leaders stop “just participating” — and start playing to win.

👉 Book Your Workshop Today

Why Most Strategic Planning Sessions Don’t Work

Executives know the pain.

You block two full days.
You sit through long presentations.
You fill out forms and frameworks.

At the end, you get a thick report.
But not the clarity you need.
Not the bold decisions your company can act on.

Here’s the problem:

Strategy gets confused with paperwork.
The process takes over, but the purpose is lost.
Teams leave with documents, not direction.
Everything feels “important,” so nothing is truly prioritized.

You don’t need another retreat that creates noise.
You need a session that creates focus.

What Strategy Really Means

Most executives have seen it. A planning session ends with a neat chart: “Let’s grow 10% more than last year.”

That’s not strategy. That’s arithmetic.

Strategy is not about adding percentages. It’s about making choices.

Choices about where to play — which markets, clients, or segments matter most.
Choices about how to win — whether by cost, innovation, brand, or focus.
Choices about what to stop doing, so the right things have room to grow.

Think about it this way:
If you try to serve everyone, you end up serving no one well.
If you copy competitors, you never lead.
If you avoid hard choices, you drift.

Example 1: The BPO That Specialized
One BPO in Manila used to say yes to every client. Healthcare, e-commerce, finance, customer service. The result? High costs, high turnover, and no real edge. When the leadership finally chose to specialize in healthcare accounts, everything shifted. Training became sharper, recruitment more targeted, and client satisfaction soared. That’s strategy — choosing where to play and how to win.

Example 2: The School That Found Its Niche
A private school kept chasing enrollment growth by copying competitors: new programs, more buildings, extra clubs. But nothing stood out. Finally, the board made one bold move: focus on STEM education and partnerships with tech companies. Enrollment stabilized. Reputation grew. Parents no longer saw them as “just another school.” They became the school for future engineers. That’s strategy — clarity of aspiration and direction.

Real strategy is courage.
The courage to define your winning aspiration.
The courage to align resources to a few big bets.
The courage to say no — and mean it.

That’s why Playing to Win calls strategy a cascade of decisions:

What’s our winning aspiration?
Where will we play?
How will we win?
What capabilities will we build?
What systems will support us?

Executives don’t need another binder.
They need clarity — a shared direction that gives every manager confidence to act.

That’s what our workshops deliver.

Not All Strategic Planning Workshops Are the Same

Strategic planning isn’t just a process.
It isn’t about following steps, filling templates, or producing a glossy binder.

It’s about positioning your company to win.

For some organizations, that means a focused one-day sprint.
For others, it may take three days in a beach resort — away from the chaos of the city — to slow down, reflect, and make bold choices together.

There isn’t only one way to do this.
But every effective strategy session has one thing in common: it leads to real decisions, not just documents.

To show you what that looks like, I’ve designed three flagship workshops.
Each one takes a different path.
Each one ends with clarity, courage, and choices your leaders can act on.

One. Playing to Win Workshop

I once facilitated a team building session before a company’s planning retreat. On day one, they brought in a speaker to present global trends and opportunities. On day two, each department presented their “strategy.

The CEO was disappointed. After three months of preparation, every department’s plan looked the same: “do a little better than last year.” Add 10%. Improve a process. Hire a few more people.

That wasn’t strategy. That was arithmetic dressed up in PowerPoint.

What the organization lacked was not data. They had more than enough of that. What they lacked was the courage to make real choices.

When to Use:

When executives feel spread too thin.
When leaders are unclear about priorities.
When the organization is “doing okay” but not truly standing out.

Why Two Days, Away from the Office:
Strategic choices require breathing room. In the office, email and emergencies interrupt deeper thinking. That’s why this workshop is best done over two days, off-site. A resort or quiet retreat allows leaders to step back, think bigger, and align without distractions.

What Happens in the Workshop:

Backcasting Success → Picture your company three years from now at extraordinary success. What headlines would the industry write? What choices got you there?
Strategic Choice Cascade Primer → Learn the five choices that define every strategy: Winning Aspiration, Where to Play, How to Win, Core Capabilities, and Management Systems.
Strategic Market Mapping → Map and debate possible markets, client types, and playing fields. Decide where to compete — and where not to.
How to Win Debate → Test bold approaches: cost leadership, innovation, specialization, brand. Facilitate debates to sharpen assumptions and challenge comfort zones.
Decision & Next Steps → Capture the decisions into a strategy-on-a-page and identify the first 90-day actions.

Expected Outcomes:

A clear winning aspiration that inspires and guides.
2–3 bold choices that focus the company’s energy.
A shared framework (the Strategic Choice Cascade) executives can use for future decisions.

Impact:

A stronger, more defensible market position.
Smarter allocation of time, talent, and resources.
Momentum toward deliberate, consistent growth.

Two. SOAR Workshop

I once worked with a community organization preparing for its five-year plan. The leaders were exhausted. Every meeting felt like a problem-solving session — more issues, more gaps, more reasons to worry.

When I asked them about their strengths, the room fell silent. They hadn’t thought about it. They were so used to talking about what was wrong that they forgot what was working.

When we shifted the focus — from problems to possibilities — everything changed. Leaders started listing the things their people were proud of: programs that already worked, relationships they could build on, small wins they could multiply. The mood shifted. Energy rose. And from that energy, they crafted a vision that everyone believed in.

That’s what the SOAR Workshop does.

When to Use:

When you want to re-energize your organization with a positive outlook.
When leaders need to align around a shared aspiration for the future.
When your team is stuck in problem-solving mode and needs to see possibilities.
Especially powerful for NGOs, LGUs, schools, foundations, and churches.

Why It Works:
SOAR is inspired by Appreciative Inquiry. Instead of asking “What’s wrong?” it asks, “What’s strong?” From strengths, we explore opportunities, define aspirations, and commit to measurable results.

This approach works because it shifts the mindset from fixing to building — and people act faster when they feel proud, not drained.

Timeframe:

Usually done in two days for deeper reflection and stronger collaboration.
Can be done in one day if participants complete pre-workshop activities (like identifying strengths and opportunities beforehand).

What Happens in the Workshop:

Spotting Strengths → Identify the organization’s “native genius” — what you already do exceptionally well.
Mapping Opportunities → Explore trends, needs, and emerging possibilities where strengths can be applied.
Defining Aspirations → Articulate what the organization wants to become in 3–5 years — not just metrics, but purpose and impact.
Turning Aspirations Into Results → Translate the big vision into measurable outcomes and milestones.
Action & Accountability → Choose the first steps, assign ownership, and set rhythms of accountability.

Expected Outcomes:

Renewed energy and confidence by focusing on what already works.
A compelling vision of the future that inspires people at all levels.
A practical roadmap linking aspirations to measurable results.
Stronger collaboration, as the process itself is inclusive and generative.

Impact:

A culture that looks at possibilities instead of problems.
Faster alignment, smoother execution.
A stronger sense of shared purpose, inspiring employees, volunteers, and partners alike.

Three. Strategic Planning Sprint

I once joined a leadership team that had been “planning” for months. They had held three workshops, created dozens of slides, and yet still couldn’t agree on priorities. Every meeting ended with another list of things to study.

One executive finally asked, “Why are we dragging this out? Can’t we just decide?”

That’s when it hit them: the issue wasn’t information. It was courage. They were stuck in incremental thinking — trying to get a little better, not daring to imagine what winning big could look like.

The Strategic Planning Sprint was designed to break that cycle.

When to Use:

When the leadership team needs fast clarity.
When bold thinking is required but the group keeps playing safe.
When endless planning cycles slow you down.
When you want urgency — decisions made in hours, not months.

Why It Works: Instead of asking “How can we improve 10%?”, the Sprint asks, “What if we could grow 10x?” This mindset shift sparks creativity, disrupts safe assumptions, and forces leaders to explore bold possibilities.

By the end of the day, you don’t just have ideas. You have 1–2 clear, testable strategies — and the first steps to act on them immediately.

Timeframe:

Best run in one high-energy day.
Can be extended to two days if teams want to test more scenarios in detail.

What Happens in the Workshop:

Framing the 10x Aspiration → Define what “winning big” looks like in the next 1–3 years.
Extreme Questions → Challenge assumptions with “what if” and “why not.”
Where to Play / How to Win Brainstorm → Generate multiple strategic options.
Stress-Testing → Use “what would have to be true?” to filter bold ideas with evidence.
Commitment & Baby Steps → Align on 1–2 bold bets, assign ownership, and define immediate next moves.

Expected Outcomes:

Leaders leave with 1–2 bold, testable strategies instead of a laundry list.
Clear ownership and accountability for moving ideas forward.
Immediate momentum from first steps and quick wins.

Impact:

Faster, sharper decision-making at the top.
A culture that values bold thinking over incremental tweaks.
Accelerated progress toward breakthrough results.

Work With Jef Menguin & Strategic Learning Consultants

There’s no shortage of consultants in Manila.
But most follow the same playbook: long reports, rigid processes, and frameworks that look good on slides but don’t stick in the real world.

That’s not how we work.

About Jef Menguin

I’ve been helping executives, managers, and supervisors in the Philippines design and execute strategy for over 20 years.
I’m a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) and professional speaker, trusted by organizations from BPOs and schools to LGUs and foundations.
My expertise isn’t in theory — it’s in creating clarity leaders can use the next day.

When leaders bring me in, they don’t get another lecture. They get a facilitator who provokes better questions, sharpens choices, and helps them commit to action.

About Strategic Learning Consultants, Inc.

We are not just a training company. We are a partner in transformation.

We design practical, tool-based workshops that deliver decisions, not just discussions.
We tailor every engagement to the organization — whether that means a one-day sprint in Manila, or a three-day retreat by the beach.
We focus on execution and alignment, so the strategy doesn’t die in a binder.

Our work is trusted by leaders across industries who want clarity, alignment, and momentum — not more paperwork.

We don’t just guide discussions. We help executives make decisions that stick.