Strategic Priorities in 2026: making decisions quickly in an unstable world
- psimi4
- Jan 15
- 4 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Tuesday morning, 8:30 a.m. The executive committee is meeting.
The sales team reports tender processes dragging on and client decisions repeatedly postponed. The COO flags erratic increases in certain raw materials and supplier lead times that are becoming increasingly difficult to meet. The CFO presents a cash position that is “under control” — but clearly under pressure within three to four months. HR highlights rising absenteeism, the departure of a key manager with no obvious successor, and an organisation that is beginning to show signs of fatigue...
Around the table, the same sentence keeps coming back: “Let’s wait until things become clearer.”
In 2026, for SME and mid-cap leaders, waiting is rarely a neutral option. In an unstable economic and geopolitical environment, hesitation often becomes a costly decision in itself.
Executive Committees Facing a Year of Constrained Decisions
Unlike previous cycles, 2026 is not a year suited to long-term projections spanning three to five years. Leaders are operating in a context defined by uncertainty: trade tensions, margin pressure, increasing regulatory requirements, skills shortages and volatile demand.
For SMEs and mid-cap companies in construction, industry, environment, retail, services, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, the challenge is no longer to design a perfect long-term plan, but to keep the business on course day to day while preparing for the immediate future.
Why 2026 Is a Year for Trade-Offs — Not Long-Term Plans
The leaders navigating this period most effectively share one common trait: they focus their decisions on short, manageable time horizons. The next twelve months matter, but it is often the next 90 days that truly determine the trajectory.
This requires moving away from constant reflection and towards clear arbitration. Arbitration between cash protection and investment, between maintaining existing operations and transforming them, between overloading internal teams and bringing in external resources.
Cash, Margin and Sales: The Operational Priorities of SME and Mid-Cap Leaders
In 2026, cash once again becomes a central concern — not merely as a financial indicator, but as a reflection of the organisation’s overall effectiveness. Customer payment terms, inventory levels, invoicing processes, quality issues and disputes all have an immediate impact on a company’s ability to absorb shocks.
Margins can no longer be treated as a secondary variable either. In many sectors, continuing to drive revenue without pricing discipline ultimately weakens the business. This often means revisiting certain offers, customers or sales practices that have become outdated.
Finally, the sales function is frequently at the heart of strategic priorities. Many SMEs and mid-cap companies report intense activity but declining efficiency. Sales cycles are lengthening, priorities are becoming blurred and teams are wearing down. Reorganising the sales force, clarifying decision-making rules and restoring effective steering are becoming critical challenges.
Governance Under Strain: When the Organisation Reaches Its Limits
Behind these issues often lies a deeper challenge: governance. In 2026, many SMEs and mid-cap organisations are operating with leadership teams that are undersized relative to the complexity of the challenges they face.
The CEO carries too much responsibility, key managers are overloaded, and structurally important decisions are postponed due to a lack of time or support.
This situation becomes particularly critical when a strategic role is vacant, when a business unit needs turning around, or when rapid reorganisation is required.
The Senior Interim Manager as a Decision Accelerator
It is in this context that interim management fully demonstrates its value. A Senior Interim Manager is not just another external advisor. They step in to take on an operational role, with a clear mandate and a defined objective: to secure, reorganise and relaunch.
Whether the challenge involves turning around an activity, structuring a sales organisation, securing the finance function or replacing a key manager, an interim manager enables the executive committee to regain control.
They bring immediate execution capability, an external perspective free from internal political considerations, and proven experience in complex, high-pressure situations.
Deciding Quickly to Secure the Business in 2026
Ultimately, the strategic priorities of SME and mid-cap leaders in 2026 can be summed up in one simple question: which decisions can no longer wait?
In an unstable world, performance does not come from perfect plans, but from clarity of choices and speed of execution.
This is precisely where the temporary reinforcement of a Senior Interim Manager can make a decisive difference — allowing the business to navigate a critical phase without becoming paralysed by hesitation.
What If You Took Stock Now — Rather Than in Six Months’ Time?
When multiple weak signals begin to accumulate — pressure on cash, organisational fatigue, postponed strategic decisions, a weakened key role — an external perspective can quickly clarify priorities and identify effective levers for action.
TOPS Ressources offers an initial confidential, no-obligation discussion to analyse your situation, identify bottlenecks and assess the relevance of appointing an Executive Interim Manager aligned with your challenges (turnaround, reorganisation, commercial acceleration, interim leadership).
Would you like to challenge your steering and priorities for 2026?
Let’s take the time for a short, pragmatic diagnostic.
TOPS Resources, Interim Management in Executive Committee roles: CEO, CFO, HR Director, Supply Chain Manager, Transformation Director, Sales Director...
