Know whether your strategy will hold up before the next shock hits
STRATEGY ADVISORY FOR CEOS OF $5-100M COMPANIES
Most leadership teams are too "polite" to be productive. I help $5M–$100M CEOs replace static plans with Living Systems that actually work. Drawing on 30+ years as a 3-time founder and strategy architect, I help you find the truth and build the discipline to stick to it.
THE PROBLEM
Strategy shouldn’t collapse under pressure
In several decades advising more than 50 organizations from high-growth startups to the US Navy, I’ve seen how strategy actually breaks. It’s rarely a "bad plan." It’s "Strategy Debt": ungoverned assumptions and a team that values harmony over honesty.
Whether you are facing a Moment of Drift or a New CEO Transition, I provide "straight talk" and clinical space to fix it.
WHY CEOS PICK UP THE PHONE
MOMENTS OF DRIFT
"When the old plan stops working." Focus on the frustration of high-performers leaving or cornerstone customers slipping away.
THE M&A GAP
"When growth threatens your value." Focus on preventing "value leakage" and culture clashes that cause burnout.
NEW CEO TRANSITION
"When you inherit a strategy you didn't build." Focus on the pressure of the board's expectations vs. the team's existing habits.
DISRUPTION RESPONSE
"When the world changes faster than your binder." Focus on AI, policy shifts, or margin compression where the plan is obsolete.
CLINICAL DISCIPLINE FOR HIGH-STAKE CHOICES
My approach is grounded in four proprietary frameworks that bridge the gap between scientific thinking and boardroom reality.
The Strategy Arcade: I use high-intensity simulations to find the breaking point of your strategy before the market does.
Governance Insights: I replace static "annual plans" with an early-warning system that dictates exactly when to pivot.
Choice Logic: Strategy is not an additive process of "brainstorming." It is the clinical discipline of subtraction: deciding what not to do.
Sensing Frameworks: I interpret the hidden signals and "playscripts" across your strategy ecosystem.
THE HSS VALUE PATH: FROM CALIBRATION TO CONTROL
Every engagement starts with understanding ground truth. We only go as deep as the challenges require. Each modular phase stands on its own.
Prime
(Calibration)
A two-part clinical diagnostic for the CEO and leadership team. Leave with alignment, insights, and a strategy readiness assessment.
(1 Day).
Sprint
(Clarity)
Identification of key strategic problems, the needed Logic of Choice, and light validation of strategy. Provides a CEO logic summary and strategy cascade.
(1 Month).
Build
(Confidence)
Process to validate choices with evidence and stress-test them in the Strategy Arcade, delivering a board-ready execution system.
(1 Quarter).
System
(Control)
Quarterly resets, leadership reviews, monthly, and continuous signpost tracking to ensure strategy remains a living discipline.
(1 Year).
STRATEGY WORKSHOPS FOR CEO GROUPS
A high-intensity, half-day session where 8–12 CEOs from different companies pressure-test their own strategies. Using the Strategy Arcade and other diagnostic tools HSS brings to private engagements, you will leave with sharper choices, a clear view of your blind spots, and direct input from a room of peers
MARK HAAS, 3-TIME FOUNDER & VETTED STRATEGIST
Strategy is a high-stakes capital and talent allocation decision. It requires an objective fiduciary, someone who prioritizes clinical truth over internal politics.
30+ Years of Seasoning: From turning around a $22M nonprofit to facilitating US Navy strategy sessions, Mark has seen how organizations survive or fail.
20 Years as an Ethics Officer: Mark’s unique experience adjudicating ethics cases allows him to create a "safe harbor" where leadership teams can finally be honest about their "fatal flaws".
Professional Standard: As a Certified Management Consultant (CMC)and IMC USA Fellow, Mark adheres to the highest global standards of technical and ethical performance.
The HSS Philosophy
Strategy is not a static document, but a Living System of integrated and evolving choices. This perspective is designed to move leadership teams from Polite Consensus to Collective Conviction, ensuring that Strategic Intent survives the complexity of execution and the volatility of the market. Value is not the work products, but a new way of thinking and working.
TESTIMONIALS
Mark has an incredible wealth of knowledge of organizations, their dynamics, and how to improve their operations, productivity, and teamwork. In less than a year, he has reenergized and revamped us to a level that amazes us all. Our membership has increased dramatically, the programming is incredible, and our vision and focus for the future are well-crafted and visible.
James Bullard
Director, CACI
STRATEGY SNAPSHOT
Weekly insights from HSS on taking your strategy from calibration to clarity, confidence, and control, including special situations and governance issues.
NOT SURE WHERE TO START?
Most CEOs who reach out aren't sure whether they need strategy help or execution help. That's fine. That's exactly what the first conversation is for.