Setting Goals, and the One Minute Leadership Lesson [from the archives]
How do you set goals? Think about it. If you actually had to describe it, how do you do it?
Most people that set them don’t really know. Something goes in both inside and outside their brain, and goals come out the other side. Last week I posted on Forget the New Year’s Resolution. My point was that resolutions are nothing more than good intentions, but goals require structure and plans. I even included a free goal template that people can use. I realize that few people really know how to set goals.
There are many ways more complicated than this, but I wanted to offer a simple and structured process for thinking this through. I also call this..
My One Minute Leadership Lesson
This is because it defines equally well the actions that a leader must take. It’s nothing more than 3 questions. Face these questions with honesty and integrity, and goals will become more clear.
- Question 1: What is your vision of where you/we / the organization needs to be?
- Question 2: What are you willing to do / sacrifice/risk to make that happen?
- Question 3: What prevents you from doing that today?
Often a vision is set as the goal. But working on what prevents you from achieving it allows faster progress towards the ideal state.