How proximity and fresh perspective create strategic clarity.

The closer you are to your business, the harder it is to see it clearly. A former CEO said this to me over coffee, and it was a useful reminder of why I do what I do.

Proximity is both strength and limitation.

When you are deep in your day-to-day business, you understand every nuance. You know the history behind decisions, the reasons certain approaches evolved, and the constraints that shape your choices.

That depth of knowledge is invaluable. But it also makes it harder to spot new patterns or question long-held assumptions. What you gain in context, you sometimes lose in perspective.

The challenge is not capability.

The hardest part of strategy is not the plan or execution. It is gaining enough distance to see your own situation with fresh eyes.

This is why even the most experienced leaders seek outside perspective. Not because they lack strategic thinking, but because being inside the business naturally shapes what you notice and what you overlook.

What fresh perspective adds.

Someone outside your organisation can often see things you can no longer notice:

• Opportunities that seem obvious from the outside

• Strengths you have undervalued

• Patterns emerging in your market

• Connections between challenges that seem unrelated

Not because they know your business better, but because they can look at it without the weight of history or internal dynamics.

How proximity and distance create strategic clarity.

The best strategic thinking happens when you combine deep business knowledge with objective outside perspective.

You bring the context, the understanding of what is truly possible, and the knowledge of what has been tried. Fresh perspective brings new questions, pattern recognition across industries, and freedom from internal assumptions.

Together, that creates strategic clarity and turns strategy into something actionable.

When fresh perspective helps most.

Consider bringing in outside perspective when:

• You are planning your next phase of growth

• Your teams would benefit from an external view

• You want to stress-test your strategy

• You are exploring new directions

The strongest leaders actively seek perspectives that complement their own. They recognise that seeing your business clearly is easier with both proximity and distance.