The Sugar Story & Your Vision for 2026. Why leadership vision must be lived, not just declared.
- Lize Terblanche
- Feb 4
- 3 min read
As leaders, we spend a lot of time talking about vision.
We talk about where the business is going. What needs to change? What we expect from our teams as we move into the next phase.
However, before we embark on any strategy document, planning session, or leadership offsite, we need to address a quieter, more confronting question. There is a quieter, more confronting question we often avoid.
Are we personally willing to live the vision we are asking others to follow?
A straightforward narrative reveals a profound leadership lesson.
There’s a story you may have heard before.
A mother once travelled for days with her young son to see a wise elder in a nearby village. When they arrived, she said:
“Please tell my son to stop eating so much sugar. He will listen to you.”
The elder paused and replied, “Come back in two weeks.”
So they returned home, waited two weeks, and then made the long journey again — through heat, dust, and sun.
When they arrived, the elder looked at the boy and said,
“Stop eating so much sugar. It is not good for you.”
The mother was shocked.
“Why couldn’t you just say that two weeks ago?” she asked.
And the elder replied:
“Because two weeks ago, I needed to stop eating sugar myself. I can only ask someone to do what I am willing to do.
It’s a simple story — but for leaders, it’s deeply uncomfortable.
Strategy fails when it comes to self-leadership.
Many leadership and strategy challenges don’t fail because the plan was wrong.
They fail because:
Leaders ask for focus while modelling overwhelm
Leaders ask for accountability while avoiding hard decisions
Leaders ask for alignment while being unclear themselves
Leaders ask for discipline while constantly changing direction
Teams don’t follow PowerPoint slides.They follow behaviour.
Your people watch how you lead long before they listen to what you say.
You cannot outsource credibility
As organisations look ahead to 2026, the pressure is real:
Markets are shifting
Teams are stretched
Change fatigue is high
And tolerance for “theoretical leadership” is low
This means leadership credibility matters more than ever.
You cannot ask your team to:
Commit to a strategy you don’t personally prioritise
Change behaviours you aren’t willing to change
Trust a direction you don’t consistently demonstrate
Vision is not only communicated.It is demonstrated - daily.
A different way to think about your 2026 vision
Before setting targets, KPIs, or strategic themes, consider starting here:
Am I clear about where I am going?
Do my daily decisions reinforce or dilute the strategy?
Am I modelling the behaviour I expect from my leadership team?
If my team copied how I work, would it move the business forward?
These questions are uncomfortable — but they are strategic.
Because when leadership behaviour and strategy align, execution becomes easier, not harder.
The StratEdge perspective
At StratEdge, we see this pattern repeatedly: strategy doesn’t fail at the planning stage. It fails at the modelling stage.
Strong strategy requires strong self-leadership. Clarity at the top creates momentum throughout the organization.
If you’re setting a vision for 2026, the most important place to start may not be the plan but the leader holding it.
Call to action
If you’re realising that your 2026 vision needs more clarity, structure, or discipline, and you want support turning that vision into a strategy you can genuinely lead, let’s talk.
One focused strategic conversation can change how the year ahead unfolds.
📧 Email me: lterblanche@thealternativeboard.za.com
📞 Call me directly: 084 300 1374
📅 Or book a time that suits you via Calendly: https://calendly.com/live_your_dream/discovery_meeting_with_lize?back=1&month=2025-06
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