Mastering the Quarterly Cadence: 8 Disciplines for High-Performing Teams
“People do not decide their futures. They decide their habits, and their habits decide their futures.”
-F. M. Alexander
Two leadership teams. Same industry. Similar ambition. Both chasing a bold long-term vision.
The first sets ambitious quarterly goals and misses most of them. Distractions creep in. Priorities shift. Goals lack clarity; they’re directional, not specific. Accountability is soft. There’s always a reason things didn’t get done. After a few cycles, momentum stalls. The long-term vision starts to feel impossible.
The second team also sets ambitious goals. But they focus on a handful of must-dos. Clear outcomes. Clear owners. Shared commitment. Real accountability. They execute, support each other, reflect, and improve every quarter. Momentum builds. The vision feels achievable because they’re actually making progress.
From Chaos to Cadence
That’s the difference a Quarterly Cadence makes.
It’s the rhythm that turns vision into traction, one quarter at a time.
The structure that keeps a team focused, aligned, and honest about progress.
The discipline that separates high-performing teams from the ones that stall out.
In The Planning Paradox, I explored the tension between long-term vision and short-term execution, and why bold 10-year goals require disciplined quarterly rhythms to become real. This article is a deep dive into how that short-term execution actually works.
One of the best examples I’ve seen of this in action is Laney LA, an architecture studio based in Los Angeles.
When I first started working with founder Anthony Laney seven years ago, the firm was small but ambitious, operating out of his garage near Hermosa Beach with a clear goal to become LA’s next leading architecture studio.
Instead of building a 10-year plan and hoping for the best, Anthony built a Quarterly Cadence. Every quarter, the leadership team realigned, reset, and executed on a handful of clear priorities. No exceptions.
That discipline has compounded over time. Not every quarter was perfect, but every quarter moved them forward. Today, Laney LA has grown into one of the city’s most respected design studios and just published its first architectural monograph, POETICS of HOME: Essays and Spaces by Laney LA, a milestone that moves them closer to the vision they set years ago.
The long-term goal inspired them.
The Quarterly Cadence got them there.
Every strong quarterly plan balances two types of goals: measurable outcomes (revenue, profit, key metrics) and strategic initiatives (the projects and priorities that drive progress).
This article focuses on the second: the leadership habits and execution disciplines that turn plans into real progress. The measurable side deserves its own deep dive, which I’ll explore in a future piece.
Here are the eight disciplines that define a strong Quarterly Cadence. These are the same practices the most consistent, high-performing teams use to execute quarter after quarter.
Discipline 1: Start with the End in Mind
Most teams set quarterly goals in a vacuum. They ask, “What should we tackle this quarter?” without asking whether it actually advances the bigger picture.
The most impactful quarterly goals are rooted in your one-year plan, which should itself be a stepping stone toward your long-term vision.
Building a great one-year plan is its own discipline. For now, assume you’ve already identified the key priorities that will move your business forward.
Each quarter is a focused opportunity to:
Remove a bottleneck that is slowing progress
Capitalize on a market shift or competitive advantage
Take the next step in a strategic initiative
The question is not “What could we do?”
It is “What must we do now to move meaningfully closer to achieving our one-year plan?”
And often, an even more important question is, “What should we not do?”
Before you finalize your quarterly goals, pause to review your one-year plan. Are these truly the right next steps?
Not every part of your one-year plan needs to be tackled every quarter. Some may be front-loaded; others backloaded. That’s your call.
By the end of the year, they all need to be done. What you choose in this 90-day window either moves you closer or it doesn’t.
Discipline 2: Set Goals That are Just Right
Remember the childhood story of Goldilocks? One bowl of porridge was too hot, one too cold, and one was just right.
The same principle applies to setting quarterly goals. They need to be just right.
I once worked with a leadership team that set seven goals in a single quarter and missed five of them. Not because they lacked discipline, but because three of those goals were massive lifts: a system implementation, a major client launch, and a full rebrand. Each one could have filled a quarter on its own.
The next quarter, they set five goals – two big initiatives and three smaller ones – and hit four. The difference was not fewer goals; it was the right mix.
Once your goals are aligned with the annual plan, the next challenge is sizing them correctly. “Just right” means finding the balance between how many goals you take on and how big each one is – realistic enough to finish, ambitious enough to matter.
When reviewing your quarterly goals, ask:
Do we have the right people?
The right tools?
The resources?
The time?
Complexity is the enemy of execution. That’s why less is more.
A good rule of thumb:
Aim for 3 to 7 company-level goals per quarter
Expect 100 percent completion and celebrate 80 percent or higher
Fewer, well-chosen goals focus energy, clarify priorities, and eliminate noise.
Keep it simple. Prioritize what matters most.
A handful of disciplined, achievable goals will always outperform a bloated list that burns your team out.
Discipline 3: One Owner, Shared Commitment
Every quarterly goal needs one thing above all: a single, clear owner.
Ownership means:
Defining the work
Managing the timeline
Securing and allocating resources
Mitigating risk
Reporting progress
And doing whatever it takes to get the goal to “done”
It’s accountability with agency. The owner has the authority to make decisions and the responsibility to deliver.
If more than one person owns it, no one does. That’s when confusion creeps in and finger-pointing begins.
But ownership doesn’t mean doing it alone. Healthy teams rally around shared commitments. When someone is off track, the team leans in with ideas, resources, and support.
One person owns the goal.
Everyone contributes to the outcome.
Discipline 4: Define Done
The fastest way to miss a goal is failing to define what success actually looks like.
I once worked with a team whose quarterly goal was “Launch the new ERP.”
Three months later, half the team thought they nailed it. The other half thought they missed it. Why? They never agreed on what success actually meant.
Was it ready for use? Fully live? Everyone trained and using it?
Take another example:
“Improve the sales process.”
Directionally helpful, but too vague. What does success really mean?
Here’s a sharper version:
“Streamline the sales process and increase the close rate to 45 percent.”
Even better, break it into a clear title and success criteria:
Title: “Improve the sales process and raise the close rate to 45 percent.”
Success Criteria:
Review, simplify, and update the sales process documentation
Present proposed changes to the leadership team, incorporate feedback, and secure final approval
Train the sales team on the new process
Achieve a 45 percent close rate (contracts signed ÷ proposals sent in the past 90 days)
It may seem overly detailed, but it creates total clarity. Everyone knows what “done” looks like.
When you skip defining success, three things tend to happen:
No one knows if the goal was achieved, and no one feels good about it
Execution meanders, or the target shifts midstream
The work rolls into the next quarter, or the one after that
As 10-time World Series champion Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up somewhere else.”
Discipline 5: Align the Entire Company
The leadership team is aligned. Your quarterly goals are clear. Now it’s time to align the rest of the organization and get every person contributing.
Start with a quarterly State of the Company meeting, a dedicated time to share progress, reinforce the vision, and roll out the company’s top priorities for the next 90 days.
If you want to strengthen this discipline, see 10 Disciplines for an Exceptional State of the Company Meeting for a deeper playbook on how to run it effectively.
From there, department leaders cascade those priorities to their teams. Every team member should walk away with one or more 90-day goals that support the company’s plan and clearly connect to their role.
This discipline isn’t just about communication. It’s about creating clarity and alignment at every level. It ensures everyone knows where the company is going, how you plan to get there, and how their work fits into the bigger picture.
Whether you’re a team of 20 or 200, if each person sets one aligned priority per quarter, that’s 80 to 800 focused improvements per year.
Disciplined execution is a team sport. When the entire company rows in the same direction, quarter after quarter, momentum becomes inevitable. Alignment turns into progress. Progress turns into trust. And trust turns into performance.
Discipline 6: Trust and Empower Your People
Picture this:
Quarterly goals are set. Each owner builds a detailed project plan. The plan is reviewed, approved, and tracked weekly by their leader, with every step monitored and challenged.
Healthy and productive?
It’s not. It’s micromanagement.
I once worked with a CEO who reviewed every project plan, questioned every timeline, and approved every decision. He thought he was being thorough. His team thought he didn’t trust them. Two of his best people left within six months.
I also worked with a founder who did the opposite. She set clear goals, assigned ownership, and stepped back. Her team moved fast and delivered consistently. The difference? She hired well and then got out of the way.
As Jim Collins points out in Good to Great, when you have the right people in the right seats, you don’t need to tightly manage or constantly motivate them. They’re self-disciplined, capable, aligned with the company’s mission, and driven by the right values.
If you can’t trust and empower your people to execute, you’re holding them and yourself back.
When leaders feel the need to micromanage, it usually comes down to one of two issues:
You don't trust the person's ability to do the work, which may mean they're not the right fit
You struggle to let go, which means you have some growing to do as a leader
If you find yourself constantly hovering, ask: Is it them, or is it me?
Your job is to align everyone around clear outcomes and then trust your team to deliver.
You’ll still need to check in, but that’s about support and accountability, not control.
And that’s where we’ll go next.
Discipline 7: Establish a Weekly Check-In
With clear goals, true ownership, and the right people in place, you’ve built the foundation for disciplined execution in your Quarterly Cadence.
But here’s the reality: a lot can change in 90 days. Markets shift. People move. Big wins happen. Equipment fails. The unexpected is inevitable.
That’s why you need a simple weekly check-in rhythm. It gives you 13 chances each quarter to stay aligned, adapt quickly, and ensure follow-through.
The best-performing teams I work with all have one thing in common: a structured weekly meeting where they review progress, solve problems, and leave aligned on next steps.
Here’s how to make it count:
Review status: every goal gets a quick update (On Track, Off Track, or Done)
Deep dive only when needed: no micromanaging; just ask for help, share key outcomes, or clarify next steps
Swarm off-track goals early: the sooner you identify and tackle issues, the more likely you are to finish strong
Accountability isn’t about pressure. It’s about progress.
A consistent weekly pulse keeps execution on track and builds a culture of follow-through. Over time, that rhythm becomes part of how your company leads.
Discipline 8: Reflect, Adapt, and Refocus
Another 90 days have passed. Some goals were achieved. Others fell short.
That’s the gift of a Quarterly Cadence: every quarter gives you the chance to reflect, adapt, and refocus.
Start by taking a final tally. What got done? What didn’t? Aim for 100 percent. Celebrate 80 percent or higher.
Then reflect together as a team. Ask questions like:
Did we clearly define “done” for each goal?
Did we manage our cadence and timelines effectively?
What was within our control, and what wasn’t?
How did we show up as a team?
What worked well, and what should we repeat?
What didn’t work, and what should we avoid next time?
I once worked with a team that consistently fell short on hiring goals. Quarter after quarter, they set the same target and missed it by week ten. During one reflection session, someone finally asked, “Are we starting too late, or are we being unrealistic about timelines?” The answer was both. The next quarter, they started hiring in week one and cut their target in half. They hit it, and built confidence in the process.
Reflection reveals patterns, bottlenecks, and breakthroughs. Capture the insights. Apply what you’ve learned. Each cycle makes the team wiser, faster, and more capable than the one before.
From Cadence to Momentum
Great companies don’t do this once. They make it a discipline. A rhythm. The engine that powers everything.
Every 90 days:
Align.
Commit.
Execute.
Reflect.
Repeat.
Quarter by quarter, they become more focused, more effective, and more ambitious until the momentum they’ve built carries them toward their long-term vision.
Laney LA set a bold goal seven years ago: to become LA’s next leading architecture studio. They didn’t get there in one quarter or even one year. They got there by mastering these eight disciplines again and again, 28 times in a row.
That’s the power of a Quarterly Cadence. Not perfection, but discipline. And discipline, compounded over time, is how impossible goals become inevitable.
When growth-minded leaders finally reach their long-term vision, they don’t stop. They ask the only question that matters:
What’s next?
Footnotes & Sources
The Planning Paradox: See Josh Holtzman, The Planning Paradox: Balancing Long-Term Vision with Short-Term Execution (Simple Leadership, 2025). Explores how great companies use disciplined short-term execution to make long-term vision achievable.
10 Disciplines for an Exceptional State of the Company Meeting: See Josh Holtzman, Simple Leadership (2025). A companion article that outlines best practices for running effective company-wide meetings that align, inspire, and drive clarity.
Good to Great, by Jim Collins: (HarperBusiness, 2001) Source of the concept “right people in the right seats,” emphasizing self-disciplined teams that require less management and more trust.
Yogi Berra Quote: Commonly attributed to Yogi Berra, ten-time World Series champion: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up somewhere else.”
Laney LA: Example client case used with permission. Laney LA is an award-winning Los Angeles architecture and design studio. Their growth story illustrates how a consistent quarterly cadence compounds over time.
