Why high performers still can't figure out how to think like a CEO
The most successful entrepreneurs Liz Hartke has worked with over nearly 13 years all share one quiet struggle: they've hit the numbers, built the team, and still feel like they're strong-arming their way through life. "The myth is, 'Oh, they've finally figured it out,'" Liz says. "And it's just not true." The top performers she's coached, mentored by names like John C. Maxwell, aren't operating from a cheat code. They're just faster at rallying when they get knocked down. Learning how to think like a CEO isn't about cracking a secret. It's about expanding your leadership capacity so your business stops outgrowing you.
The life plan audit every entrepreneur needs first
Before Liz will talk strategy with a client, she wants to see a life plan. Not a vision board. A concrete, written document that names your non-negotiables and makes them show up in your days, not just your annual goals. She traces this back to a mentor who built and sold companies worth hundreds of millions: "None of the goals we'd pursue, none of the strategies we'd employ matter one iota if you don't know what your non-negotiables are for you and your family." The audit isn't about judging how you've spent your time. It's about comparing what you say you value against the actual evidence in your calendar. For most entrepreneurs, that comparison is a wake-up call.
How to become a visionary leader: the seven-block weekly schedule
Liz teaches what she calls the Visionary CEO Schedule, a framework built around seven blocks of time that should appear in every visionary leader's week. The blocks look different depending on your industry, family situation, and season of life, but the structure is consistent. The goal is to shift from reactive, survival-mode decision-making into the kind of elevated thinking that actually moves a business forward. "When we're becoming a visionary CEO," she explains, "we're becoming really clear on what we're called to in this season, how we're using our business as a vehicle to get there, how we're becoming more profitable in the process, and how we're aligning it all with our sweet spot." You can DM the word SCHEDULE to Liz on Instagram @elizhartke to get the full framework.
Clarity prompts: the questions that actually unstick you
One of Liz's most practical tools is a set of clarity prompts she uses in her own morning practice and shares with clients. These aren't journaling fluff. They're sharp, honest questions designed to surface what's really going on beneath the busyness. One of her favorites: "Where in my business am I betraying my own beliefs to chase results, and what would it look like to stop doing that starting today?" Another: "How clear is my team on our core belief, and can they articulate it without hesitation?" "Great leaders ask great questions," she says, echoing John Maxwell. "We stay stuck in the same muck and mire for years because we're just not asking the right questions." You can grab Liz's Clarity Prompts at luminaryleadershipco.com/clarity or DM the word CLARITY to @elizhartke on Instagram.
The hidden cost of running a business in survival mode
Liz is candid about her own experience burning out her adrenals, battling Lyme disease, and getting so depleted she once couldn't find her way home from a gas station two blocks from her house. The culprit wasn't the business. It was the absence of margin. "I had burnt out my cortisol. My adrenals were completely shot." When you're operating from fear and survival, your brain literally can't think outside the box. The shift she made, treating her morning clarity time as a non-negotiable business meeting, changed both her health and her leadership more than any strategy she'd tried. If you're not protecting thinking time, you're not leading. You're just reacting.
Guilt, shame, and what they're actually telling you
Liz draws a clean line between guilt and shame that's worth sitting with. Guilt is a leading indicator, a ping from your conscience asking whether your actions match your values. Shame is what happens when guilt is left to fester or gets validated away by people who won't hold up a mirror. "When that guilt pings, it's an opportunity for you to ask the right questions," she says. The trap is going to people who will immediately comfort you rather than challenge you. The work is letting the discomfort point you toward a better question, not a better excuse.
