The CEO's External Reality Calendar
12 Strategic Blindspot Checks
Monthly reality checks that keep successful
CEOs ahead of what they can't see coming
You're smart. You're experienced. You're successful.
But when was the last time you discovered something about your market position that genuinely surprised you?
The CEO's Invisible Problem
You're making strategic decisions based on internal assumptions while your competitors, customers, and industry see reality you're missing. The higher you climb, the further you get from unfiltered market intelligence.
Most CEOs operate in an information bubble without realizing it. Your team tells you what they think you want to hear. Your reports filter out uncomfortable truths. Your success insulates you from the very market signals that could transform your strategy.
What If You Could Systematically See What Others See?
The External Reality Calendar gives you 12 months of structured external intelligence gathering. Not generic market research, but specific monthly actions that reveal the competitive reality, customer truth, and market positioning insights that your internal view can't capture.
Each month focuses on a different external intelligence source:
- Customer reality vs. your assumptions
- Competitive threats you're underestimating
- Board intelligence you're not accessing
- Industry positioning gaps
- Innovation opportunities from outside your sector
- Network intelligence you're missing
What You'll Gain
☑️ Strategic Clarity: Stop making decisions based on outdated assumptions
☑️ Competitive Advantage: See market movements before your competitors do
☑️ Market Reality: Understand how customers, competitors, and industry experts really view your position
☑️ External Networks: Build systematic intelligence gathering from your most valuable relationships
☑️ Blindspot Detection: Identify what you don't know before it becomes a strategic liability
Sample Month
Sample: August - Competitive Intelligence
Theme: "What Are You Missing About Your Competition?"
➡️ Research who your customers consider their real alternatives (may surprise you)
➡️ Take a customer to lunch who recently chose a competitor - understand why
➡️ Attend one competitor's public event/webinar as a customer would
➡️ Reflection: What competitive threat were you underestimating?
Melissa asks questions that draw you into thinking about the strategic solution... she's ace."
- Matt, CEO BMTech
"I feel like there is an experienced leader working beside me on the bigger picture"
- Chantelle, CEO JIVARO Recruitment
The market intelligence that separates successful CEOs from surprised ones isn't complex—it's systematic.
While your competitors rely on internal reports and industry publications, you'll have direct intelligence from customers, competitors, board members, and industry experts who see what you can't.
Get Your Strategic External Reality Calendar
Download your 12-month External Reality Calendar and start gathering the market intelligence your internal view can't provide.
What you get:
- 12 months of strategic external intelligence actions
- Monthly themes and focus areas
- Quarterly strategic review frameworks
- Ready-to-use conversation guides for stakeholder intelligence
- Systematic approach to external advantage
