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THOMSON REUTERS INSTITUTE

Define your strategic goals


Align legal priorities with business impact

About


Begin your strategic planning journey by establishing true clarity and forging a direct connection between your legal department’s goals and the broader business objectives. This section of the Value Alignment Toolkit moves beyond traditional goal setting, encouraging teams to unlock creative thinking and build genuine alignment around what success looks like for them.

Through a collaborative, visual approach, you’ll engage your leadership team in envisioning the future — not just with words, but with images and stories that resonate. By surfacing shared values and aspirations, you’ll lay the groundwork for meaningful, actionable goals that drive real impact. We’ve designed the resources here to help you move from abstract ambitions to clear, measurable outcomes, ensuring your department’s strategic direction is both inspiring and practical.

What's included

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Ambition Setting Explainer

An explanation of how the Ambition Setting Exercise uses visual thinking to unlock creative alignment around shared values and priorities, moving beyond traditional strategic planning language.

Ambition Setting Exercise

A step-by-step facilitation guide for running a creative workshop where legal leadership teams select images to represent their shared aspirations and future vision.

Five Transformation Archetypes Explainer

A framework describing five distinct transformation paths that legal functions can pursue as AI reshapes legal work.

Reimagine Future Legal Function Exercise

A comprehensive leadership team exercise for mapping a five-year transformation vision, assessing current capabilities and gaps, planning phased enablers, and identifying organizational changes needed.

Goal-Setting Workshop

A facilitated workshop guide that translates departmental ambition into concrete strategic goals organized across the Four Spinning Plates.

Designing Your 2030 Team: Facilitation Guide

A step-by-step guide for facilitating a leadership discussion that turns individual visions into a shared view of the future legal department.

Designing Your 2030 Team: Leadership Prep Worksheet

A guided exercise that helps legal leaders envision the size, shape, skills, and talent mix their department will need to succeed in 2030.

Ambition Setting Explainer

Ambition Setting Exercise

Five Transformation Archetypes Explainer

Reimagine Future Legal Function Exercise

Goal-Setting Workshop

Designing Your 2030 Team: Facilitation Guide

Designing Your 2030 Team: Leadership Prep Worksheet

Ready for the next step?


Return to the toolkit to advance to the next step of your journey.