Setting Goals, and the One Minute Leadership Lesson
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 this 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.
I like question 2 best (the other ones are good, but #2 hits me). I think I allow myself to take a path of low risk sometimes. That is not my history, I used to be pretty audacious, but I have become more risk averse and I need to change that. Part of the reason is extrinsic. I live (like everybody else does) in a blame culture (see Graban’s post on blame (http://www.leanblog.org/2010/01/of-course-an-individual-got-blamed/) and that makes it easy to look for a low risk path. I have to get back to what they taught in the Corps, “Courage is not absence of fear but the ability to accomplish the mission in spite of it.” Can’t directly control my environment but I can control my own actions.
Hey – that’s not a moleskine in that picture is it?!
I like question 2 best (the other ones are good, but #2 hits me). I think I allow myself to take a path of low risk sometimes. That is not my history, I used to be pretty audacious, but I have become more risk averse and I need to change that. Part of the reason is extrinsic. I live (like everybody else does) in a blame culture (see Graban’s post on blame (http://www.leanblog.org/2010/01/of-course-an-individual-got-blamed/) and that makes it easy to look for a low risk path. I have to get back to what they taught in the Corps, “Courage is not absence of fear but the ability to accomplish the mission in spite of it.” Can’t directly control my environment but I can control my own actions.
Hey – that’s not a moleskine in that picture is it?!
I like question 2 best (the other ones are good, but #2 hits me). I think I allow myself to take a path of low risk sometimes. That is not my history, I used to be pretty audacious, but I have become more risk averse and I need to change that. Part of the reason is extrinsic. I live (like everybody else does) in a blame culture (see Graban’s post on blame (http://www.leanblog.org/2010/01/of-course-an-individual-got-blamed/) and that makes it easy to look for a low risk path. I have to get back to what they taught in the Corps, “Courage is not absence of fear but the ability to accomplish the mission in spite of it.” Can’t directly control my environment but I can control my own actions.
Hey – that’s not a moleskine in that picture is it?!
Thanks Bruce. I agree, we don’t give this enough consideration. Little happens if we aren’t willing to give up a little, or at least risk a little in the process of change.
Thanks Bruce. I agree, we don’t give this enough consideration. Little happens if we aren’t willing to give up a little, or at least risk a little in the process of change.
Thanks Bruce. I agree, we don’t give this enough consideration. Little happens if we aren’t willing to give up a little, or at least risk a little in the process of change.
The key to effective New Years resolutions is:
1. Be focused: focus your energy and enthusiasm on completing one resolution at a time
2. Be organised: plan to complete the easy resolutions first, pick the low hanging fruit; this gives you confidence and boosts your ability to go onto tackle the more difficult resolutions
3. Be flexible: sometimes things won’t go as planned, don’t be demodulated
4. Be specific: use SMART goals; create a concrete action plan use proven habit techniques.
The key to effective New Years resolutions is:
1. Be focused: focus your energy and enthusiasm on completing one resolution at a time
2. Be organised: plan to complete the easy resolutions first, pick the low hanging fruit; this gives you confidence and boosts your ability to go onto tackle the more difficult resolutions
3. Be flexible: sometimes things won’t go as planned, don’t be demodulated
4. Be specific: use SMART goals; create a concrete action plan use proven habit techniques.
The key to effective New Years resolutions is:
1. Be focused: focus your energy and enthusiasm on completing one resolution at a time
2. Be organised: plan to complete the easy resolutions first, pick the low hanging fruit; this gives you confidence and boosts your ability to go onto tackle the more difficult resolutions
3. Be flexible: sometimes things won’t go as planned, don’t be demodulated
4. Be specific: use SMART goals; create a concrete action plan use proven habit techniques.