| Like most people we have plans for our | | | | and strategies for your life in all of this? |
| businesses. Strategic plans, budgets, | | | | Do you have a life in all of this? |
| succession plans and the like. The real | | | | |
| question is do you have a plan for your life? | | | | This is actually where the rubber hits the |
| | | | road for executives. Most fail to recognize |
| I have thought about this time and again | | | | this. You need to look at what you are |
| meeting and working with executives who have | | | | expected to do and figure out how you do it |
| taken on new roles in their organization or | | | | and have a life. |
| taken on a new role in another organization. | | | | |
| They plan. They spend hours and days | | | | It is not that difficult. Just not done too |
| planning. They plan with others and they plan | | | | often. Here is my approach. |
| on their own. They plan the business from top | | | | |
| to bottom. Then they unleash the behemoth on | | | | Sit down with a pen and paper not your PC. |
| the company. We wont go into the success or | | | | You need to think and doodle a bit. |
| otherwise of this exercise today. | | | | |
| | | | Ask yourself what were you really proud of |
| The one thing they dont consider is planning | | | | achieving last year? |
| for themselves. Planning their lives. Now I | | | | |
| am not a life coach or therapist but youd | | | | On the work front and non work front what was |
| think that some where along the way they | | | | great and downright awesome? |
| would have figured out they needed a plan for | | | | |
| their own actions. I say actions because a | | | | What did you really foul up last year? |
| plan is pretty useless unless its acted on. | | | | |
| People often have goals. Woopee. Setting | | | | Things that youd gladly never hear about |
| goals has become the thing to do in business | | | | again. Gotta be a few things |
| today. People will sell you courses on | | | | |
| setting goals. People will coach you in | | | | So if you look at those two lists, what can |
| setting goals. HR folks chase you down until | | | | you learn from them? |
| youve filled in their form, decided on a set | | | | |
| of goals and had them signed off. | | | | From the good and the bad. Yes we often learn |
| | | | more from our failures than successes. |
| Wonderful. The problem with setting goals for | | | | |
| a person is there is often no basis on what | | | | List those learnings. |
| to set goals for. OK lose weight, increase my | | | | |
| salary, win an promotion etc. Well what do | | | | Be proactive, stand up for myself, voice my |
| you base these goals on? I have seen business | | | | opinions, keep quiet until I know all the |
| coaches, trainers and HR folk giving people a | | | | facts, etc. |
| form and saying give me your goals for this | | | | |
| year. Guess what? Whatever is written down is | | | | Write three of them as life lessons for the |
| hooey and will never do a thing for anybody. | | | | way you would like to be this coming year. |
| All it did was place a check mark in a box. | | | | |
| Listed goals. Good boy, Sit. | | | | Be powerful, positive, in the present and |
| | | | very personal. |
| Having said all that, its actually vital that | | | | |
| you do in fact have goals but its the process | | | | List three values you associate yourself with |
| of getting you there thats going to make the | | | | having |
| difference between a basic exercise and you | | | | |
| actually achieving them. | | | | Decide what roles you have to participate in |
| | | | this year. |
| So what does that mean? | | | | |
| | | | As in be a Board member, CEO, boss, friend, |
| Well in business strategy we may follow the | | | | mom, dad, etc |
| time honored a SWOT analysis or Porter | | | | |
| Analysis and budgets. We may even be more | | | | Then which is your role of prime importance |
| creative, who knows. The fact of the matter | | | | for the coming year |
| is there are tools and programs designed to | | | | |
| help this. We take the top team off to a | | | | Write three goals for each role you selected. |
| great resort spend a few days whip a plan | | | | Or more |
| into shape, often with the help of some | | | | |
| expensive suited consultant. Send off to the | | | | You should have about 25 of them. |
| financial guys to model, make spreadsheets | | | | |
| that cant be interpreted but look as if some | | | | Select your top ten |
| real thought went into the whole process. | | | | |
| Jazz it up and get the Board to support it. | | | | Write them as SMART as you can. Specific |
| | | | Measurable Achievable Realistic and Time |
| As professionals what do we do? What is our | | | | Specific (next year). This can be a topic of |
| role in this whole caboodle? Yeah we sat | | | | a whole article. Goals are usually very |
| through the weekend, played a few rounds of | | | | poorly written. Write yours up and e-mail me |
| golf and swore blind this was the year we | | | | for some critique! |
| wouldd exceed all expectations. Sound | | | | |
| familiar? Yeah no wonder HBR has articles | | | | Put it all on a single page use abbreviations |
| stating corporations typically achieve | | | | if necessary |
| between 30 and 60 percent of their planned | | | | |
| financial results! Executives typically | | | | Write up action plans for each. Set |
| cannott wait to get back to their comfy | | | | intermediate validation points and a time |
| corner offices and fight the fires they have | | | | table. Check it weekly and monthly. |
| become accustomed to. It is ingrained in | | | | |
| them. That is what they think get paid for. | | | | Go out and achieve personal; and corporate |
| | | | success |
| Nope. You are wrong. You get paid to execute | | | | |
| the strategy. How much time do you spend on | | | | Sound intimidating? It should not be. |
| that? How do you tie that to your own goals | | | | |