Action Planning 2014

I recently conducted a webinar for Small Business Solver entitled Action Planning.   It was the middle of January and an excellent time to give some thought to 2014 goals.

I used the opportunity to describe a process that includes goal setting, action planning, implementation, measurement and re-assessment.  Not surprisingly, this process is an iterative one.  Whether we set personal goals or business goals, we’ve likely all encountered the situation that frequently  follows as we begin the implementation process.  We hit an obstacle.  Something, or perhaps someone, presents us with a challenge that must be resolved if we are to continue towards our stated goal.  Our ability to devise strategies that enable us to overcome the challenges that we will encounter is a good predictor of our ability to succeed.

At the end of my presentation there was a Q&A session and one of the participants asked the following interesting question: “how do you know when it is time to give up on a goal?”  What a great question!

In my mind, this is a ‘one size does not fit all’ question.  Obviously, in order to have a return on our investment, we must first make an investment.  But when do we say ‘enough is enough’?  Pride and stubbornness might cause us to hang in too long.  But, fear and uncertainty might have the opposite affect.  My thoughts are captured in the audio presentation that you’ll find here:

Brian Tracy on Goals 2014

I’ve just finished listening to Brian Tracy discuss goals and how to make 2014 your best year ever.

For me, there were some very simple, yet practical takeaways from his presentation.  Not least among them was his suggestion that we need to be clear about our goals but flexible about our process to achieve them.  I wonder how often our personal experience bias gets in our way and prevent us from being as flexible as we could be?

It was also interesting to think about the three major obstacles that prevent goal achievement, as presented by Brian.  He suggested that they are:

1) Comfort zone.  We become complacent about our status and progress.  Overcome this obstacle by committing to doing something different.

2) Fear of failure.  This will paralyze us into inactivity.  Commit to failing fast and learning from the failures.  Self correct and then repeat the process.  Failing fast and early in the process will keep the cost of failure low.

3) Path of least resistance.  Taking the easy route might sound compelling but how many times will we miss opportunities because they are disguised as hard work?

Brian also reiterated his 10 goal method.  He particularly focused on developing a list of ten goals and then identifying the one goal that will have the greatest positive impact on your life.  Move it to the top of your list and then do something.  Get started and keep going.

One of the great anchoring questions that he posed to the audience was:

“is what I’m doing creating value or generating revenue for my business”?

Of course, if our answer is NO, then surely we should ask ourselves, “why am I doing this”?

I’m always impressed by the breadth of ideas and suggestions that Brian makes available during his teleconferences.  These sessions are designed for FocalPoint coaches but we are encouraged to invite guests to participate.  If you have any interest in being made aware of future Brian Tracy presentations, let me know.

A Slippery Slope

I recently had the pleasure of listening to Brian Tracy conduct a teleconference call on the subject of leadership. During his presentation, he suggested that there are two types of entrepreneurs: those that are constantly upgrading their knowledge and skills and striving to move forward and those that are coasting.  As he finished this statement, he reminded listeners that there is only one direction in which you coast.  It occurred to me that not only do you coast downhill but you would also be going backwards!

The above reminds me of the following quote from John Kenneth Galbraith:

“People are the common denominator for progress.  No progress is possible with unimproved people”

In my past corporate life, the funds needed to upgrade our knowledge and skills frequently seemed to be a discretionary line item in our budget.  I don’t recall that much energy went into discussing the skills and knowledge that our organization would need to possess in the future.  Perhaps there was a product bias that caused us to believe that our product portfolio was strong and that it was the primary source of our differentiation.  I don’t know.

With the benefit of hindsight, I would argue that a strong link must be made between training and the business objective of achieving sustainable differentiation between you and your competition.  The source of differentiation is people based and if you subscribe to Galbraith’s statement about progress, then you need to think carefully about the training required in your organization.

After all, if coasting downhill isn’t frightening enough, try doing it backwards!

BIZBUZZ: D. Sanders – Built To Serve

This is episode 6 of BIZBUZZ.

I stimulate conversations that challenge business owners to consider new possibilities and to Act Boldly.  The following video highlights some of the comments from Dan Sanders’ book Built To Serve that resonated with me.

Hi, I’m Gary Brown a FocalPoint business coach.

Welcome to BIZBUZZ.

I’ve chosen to comment on Built To Serve, a book written by Dan Sanders that deals essentially with the subject of leadership.

I’d like to highlight three observations from the book that interest me.

The first deals with vision.  Sanders contends that vision is about an organization’s purpose.  It’s the heart of an entity.  It has more to do with significance than success.  I couldn’t agree more.  Too often vision statements get used to paper over cracks in the lobby wall.

My next observation deals with mission statements.  I’ve found that people sometimes treat vision and mission as synonyms, when in fact Sanders identifies mission as ‘what you do to achieve the vision’.  How does your organization view these two statements?

My final comment deals with Sander’s contention that leaders interested in long term success should regularly ask themselves these three questions:

1. what have we done for our customers?
2. What have we done for our employees?
3. What have we done for our community?

If we are built to serve, these three questions seem very logical.  They might be logical but do we do anything with them?  Do we see them as central to our role as leaders?

That’s it for Built To Serve.

Stay tuned for more BIZBUZZ

Your comments are always welcome.

Get Uncomfortable!

Here it is.  It is early January 2014 and many of us have been thinking about our goals for the new year, or we are about to spend some time doing so.

Why don’t we decide to make this the year in which we challenge ourselves to do something different?  As you think about the activities that you were involved in during 2013, what comes to mind regarding the following:

1) do more of some things

2) do less of some things

3) start doing something completely new

4) stop doing something that you currently do

In particular, what actions could you take that are completely new for you?  What new skill would make a dramatic impact on your career or your business?

Many of us allow fear and doubt to become such large obstacles that we are constrained from trying something new.  We suffer from the fear of failure and/or the fear of rejection.  These are natural fears that many of us acquired a long time ago and they are very resilient.  They are very adept at paralyzing our good intentions.  As a result, the outcomes that we might have envisioned for ourselves simply wither because we fail to take the action necessary to move them forward.

It doesn’t have to be this way.  We can bolster our courage and our confidence by acquiring new skills and knowledge. We can recognize that failure frequently precedes success. We can make a commitment to ourselves to try something new.  Write it down.  Keep it in front of yourself. Be persistent.  Above all else, take action in your intended direction.  It will likely be uncomfortable but it will be worth it!