When it comes to goals, Tony Robbins says that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year, and underestimate what they can accomplish in ten years. When you look back on the past year, did you accomplish all you set out to do? If so, congratulations! For the rest of us, I'd like to offer a perspective about how to make next year your best one yet.
Whether you are setting goals as a leader in your organization, or more personal in nature, there is one mistake most people make: they set too many. Most organizations create way too many strategic goals or "priorities" and end the year having half-fulfilled a bunch of intentions that didn't make the impact they desired in the business. It's hard enough to harness a whole organization of people around one goal, let alone fifteen or twenty. And we all know that one strategic goal probably involves ten projects to complete. Employees become confused because they are so many "priorities" they don't know where to focus. And focus is essential for achieving results. As Jim Collins said in his book, Good to Great, "If you have more than three priorities, you have no priorities."
So how do you utilize the power of focus? First, you must have clarity. The entire organization needs to be clear about what they are working toward. As a leader, you must communicate over, and over, and over again to reinforce the message and goals you are working toward. Only then will you harness the power of a collective group of people who make things happen and get results.
So think big, but in small numbers. Meaning, set some grand goals for your organization, but keep it to a manageable number so you can achieve extraordinary results instead of mediocre results.
As you move into the new year and start rolling out the new annual goals and initiatives, think about these four things:
Do we have the resources to achieve all the goals we have set? Many leaders spend two days at an off-site retreat creating strategic goals, but fail to think through the next step: do we have the resources to achieve these goals? Resources might be employee time, money, or training. Often, the IT department is involved in many, if not all of the annual goals. Do you have the resources in IT to manage the projects successfully? What do you need in order to achieve each of these annual and strategic goals? Just by thinking through the required resources, you may discover that some of your goals really aren't achievable with the available resources at this time. Or you may decide you need to take resources from one initiative and allocate them to another, more important goal.
Are all of these goals really a priority this year? Many organizations create a "wish list" instead of a realistic goal list. Throwing goals on the list hoping that you might get to it is not a good strategy. As a leadership team, it is useful to go through each goal and discuss if it should be a priority for the year, and why. For example, perhaps one of your goals is to implement a new type of software next year. For some organizations, this might be an immediate and important project that must get done in the next year. For other companies, it might just be nice to get it done, but it's not really a priority compared to some other pressing issues. Perhaps adding positions in a department is much more important than implementing a new software system. The point is, every organization is different, and it's prudent to dissect each goal to determine where the best focus of time, money and energy will be.
What is our plan for communicating these priorities? Once you have determined your most important priorities for the year, the leadership team needs to determine how you will communicate these priorities to managers and staff. This important step is often overlooked or underestimated. The very people who are tasked with accomplishing the projects to achieve these goals are often the ones who don't have clarity on what they should be doing. Your job as a leader is to create absolute clarity around where employees should be focusing their efforts, and then continue to communicate the message consistently throughout the year. A great book that will walk you through this process is The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni.
What process will we use to track our strategic and annual goals? Whether it's a software system or regular meetings, you must have a way to track progress and make adjustments when necessary. Communication is essential in this step, as the more goals you have, the more projects are involved. How will your employees communicate goal progress to you so you can make sure the credit union is on track to meet the goals?
These principles can also be applied to your personal life. The reason most people don't achieve their New Year goals or resolutions is that they set too many goals and don't think through their strategy. The key is to pick a few priorities that will have the biggest impact in your life, and think through how you will achieve the goal. This includes setting the proper expectations for progress. One of the most common goals on resolution lists is to lose weight, yet most people don't think through their plan of how they will accomplish it. They jump right in and get frustrated when they don't see immediate results. Results aren't immediate; progress happens little by little and compounds over time. The book, The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy will inspire you to take those small steps to achieve your goals.
As you prepare to make next year the year of clarity and achievement for your organization, I would recommend reading the following three books that will support your leadership team in getting excellent results:
- The One Thing by Gary Keller
- The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni
- Great by Choice by Jim Collins
Success doesn't just happen. It requires clarity around the goals, followed by consistent effort. But with proper planning and regular communication, your organization can knock it out of the park next year.
I'd love to hear from you--how many strategic goals have you found to be the limit for ensuring they are all accomplished?
I really love and enjoy this reading. Reading this I learned that when you speak out clearly you thoughts and ideas people see you as winner, because you are not afraid to go straight to the point.
Great article.....And happy belated birthday! Welcome to my world, young lady!
Whenever I have a work project that I keep putting off - I think about delegating that project to someone else - which accomplishes 2 things- it gets the project done and frees us my brain space thinking about it.
Good morning. I loved this read. Thank you so much for sharing. Sincerely, Melissa :)
Thank you for this blog Laurie. I liked most part and specially "As organizations have become more complex, there is a tendency to require employees to do more with less. This is a slippery slope, and often can result in employees feeling overwhelmed and burnt out. One of the biggest contributors to this is not evaluating resources during the strategic planning process." I will use this practice "A best practice is to do what I call Priority Planning—putting important practices on your calendar ahead of time so they become a priority in your day. Examples of activities to Priority Plan include scheduling recurring coaching sessions with each team member, time for strategic thinking and planning, vacations, doctor appointments, important children’s events, and blocks of time for focused work on projects." To be more effective, I will get a good rest so I can have enough energy in the morning. I will read the blog again along with the other links on employee evaluation. Thank you so much Laurie. Best wishes to you and your family.
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I love the feedback on the more than 50 hours of work. AND filling time. So true. Unfortunately, showing that you work longer hours is still seen as being a "hard worker" - not sure how to change that though.
I enjoyed the read. I concur that transitioning from technical skills to delegating results was a task within itself. I did not realize I was almost trying to do the same thing from my previous position, and it was not working. However, I am seeing the results of how delegating daily tasks makes my job and workload easier. Thank you, Laurie.
Thank you for sharing information about your trip Laurie! All 3 things resonate with me - probably #1 being the biggest. I know when I'm gone for a week, I'm still thinking about work and need a vacation when I get back because I did not relax enough. I think your idea of a longer vacation is definitely in my future!!
Hey Laurie, My take on your list - 1 - everyone has a story - listen 2- social media causes interpersonal problems 5- generational differences create hurdles / earn it you aren't entitled / we should help them get there not give it to them 6 AMEN some leaders I would have followed thru Hell, some I wish - well, you know 7- true BUT be as good as your word and 14- Hopefully we leave some good from our efforts, I know the good leaders I have had have. Seen a lot in my career but it really comes down to treat others the way you want to be treated, fair, honest, and straight forward. Good read. Take care
I love this so much and thank you so much for sharing! I really just love realizing that enjoying the simple things sometimes is the best! Also recognizing that what is important and fun to you may not be everyone else's fun on the on the trip. “Do we get to keep these toiletries?” was my favorite!!!! :):) Glad you had a great time and got to spend it with your family!
I very much resonate with lesson no 3! Thank you Laurie
I think the part that you might have missed in their top 5 things, some of which were not "Italian" or even different from home, all of them happened with you, both of you. And i think that is what they will remember too. And you've got tons of photos that will remind them of what the Sistine Chapel looked like - then they might remember what it sounded like or smelled like. Oh- and i agree with you 100% about sleep!
LOTS of great take-aways from this post! Thank you for posting! I especially love "slow down to speed up". That's a keeper!
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the not getting enough rest to be at my best. definitely need to get more quality sleep and make that a priority
It really is hard to narrow down the 3 lessons into one because they are all so interconnected. You need to give your mind and body THE TIME to relax SO THAT you can enjoy the SIMPLE THINGS, including REST. I enjoyed that lesson as a whole. I will take that lesson with me on my next vacation (or staycation). As always, thank you Laurie for your candor and for sharing your own lessons with others so that we too can benefit.
Great information and reminders
Laurie, Thank you for sharing your trip and these nuggets. The lessons that resonate most with me are it does take time to relax and getting proper rest. When you devote 15 plus hours of your day for work, taking care of home and others; the 6-7 hours you lay down does not cut it! For me during this time I'm trying to unwind and find myself thinking fighting not to think about what I have to do tomorrow. Even after I create a to do list for the next day...I find things I need to add. Taking a day off here and there doesn't cut it as well because of all the plans you have for that day. I try to make sure my Mental Health Days remains just that.... time for me to laugh, cry, scream.... whatever I need to release the cares and stress!
Really enjoyed the article... and all very true!
Since I was already well aware of #1 (I'm in the same boat with taking a long time to relax), I think I'm resonating most with #3. I'm learning to prioritize sleep / rest and it's been wonderful. Love that you said "I love sleep.". :)
Welcome back from vacation. Well deserve! Action is the key to success. Shoulder to shoulder, coaching and delegating task to help other employees grow are very important. It is a sacrifice that one must do. Forget about yourself and be with your team day in and out to help them grow, is not always easy. On the long run, your team is stronger, and you can depend on them for the success of the organization. Thank you so much!
So many great tips here, thank you!
I am so impressed you're able to disconnect and these are great tips I'll be sure to try on my next trip!
Such a great post - so inspiring!