Three Orienting Questions

Written By Lukas Naugle

When everything feels complicated, leaders reach for answers. But the wisest ones reach for orientation. Because in complexity, clarity doesn’t come from solving faster — it comes from remembering what direction you’re facing. That’s what these three orienting questions do. They bring leaders back to bedrock: Better. Future. Healthy. Three lenses to recalibrate your leadership before you spin out.

1. How Do We Get Back to Better?

Better isn’t “bigger,” “busier,” or “next.” It’s focus. Presence. Discernment. You know you’re off course when everything’s urgent and nothing’s meaningful. Getting back to better means recovering sanity — saying no to the good things so you can say yes to the right things.

Signs you’ve lost “better”:

  • Your calendar runs you.

  • Meetings have replaced momentum.

  • Clarity’s been traded for activity.

To recover:
Relearn focus. Protect deep work. Return to purpose.

Ask:

  • What’s worth my best attention right now?

  • What needs pruning before anything else grows?

2. How Do We Get Back to the Future?

Most leaders talk about the future like it’s a fantasy. The wise talk about it like it’s a destination — one you can actually walk toward. Getting back to the future means making tomorrow visible again. Hopeful again. Real again.

Signs you’ve lost “future”:

  • You can’t picture what success looks like anymore.

  • Hope feels naive.

  • Everyone’s operating quarter-to-quarter, not year-to-year.

To recover:
Reignite imagination. Name a vision that’s believable and bold. Translate it into motion people can actually feel.

Ask:

  • What do we see that others can’t yet?

  • What story of the future gives us energy to move?

3. How Do We Get Back to a Healthy Approach to Strategy?

The last detox step — getting clean about how you think. Strategy isn’t about control or complexity. It’s about choice. Leaders get sick when they confuse strategy with certainty, or when they chase efficiency at the expense of meaning. A healthy approach means treating strategy like stewardship — aligning what’s real, what’s scarce, and what matters most.

Signs you’ve lost “healthy”:

  • You change direction more often than you change seasons.

  • Every plan feels like a performance.

  • No one remembers why you started.

To recover:
Re-anchor strategy to wisdom, not ego. Create space for reflection before reaction. Lead slower to last longer.

Ask:

  • What’s still true, even if everything else changes?

  • How do we choose courage over control?

Field Truth

When you can’t see the path, stop chasing answers.
Ask better questions — and let them reorient your way forward.

Lukas Naugle
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