It is our obligation as leaders to create big, ambitious goals for our companies.
We must always challenge ourselves and our teams to improve and strive to be the best we can be.
We need to motivate our teams to achieve greatness, yet small, easily accomplished goals are neither inspirational nor gratifying.
Big, ambitious goals may seem unachievable, but with careful planning, focus, diligence, and commitment they can be achieved.
This does not mean that we should aim for the impossible, but maybe the improbable is actually possible.
Ten years ago I set a big bold goal for myself, I decided that I would run a marathon for charity and that I would look to run it within the next 12 months.
As a 52 year who had never run more than 5 miles and even that was 30 years ago, this was an improbable goal, not impossible, there are many people older than myself who have never run a marathon before, but have completed one.
However, it was a big challenge and it required commitment, planning and determination.
Many people told me this was foolish, that it was impossible, that I was crazy to do it.
I researched the internet and found a beginner’s marathon training plan which seemed reasonable and doable.
It is a 144-day training plan, starting off with just runs of 15 minutes in the first week, building slowly and gradually, towards the ultimate of running a marathon on day 144.
I had the Nike plus running application on my iPhone, which allowed me to record my progress, the distances, and times that I had run daily.
Even though the goal was improbable: with a simple plan; steady progress; commitment; and encouragement of friends, the goal becomes more probable each day.
Since I started the goal had changed, initially it was to complete a marathon within 12 months, but now the plan is 6 months. With the progress made, what seemed improbable, now seems probable, and even possible to complete within half the time I had committed too.
To be successful, I needed to focus on what’s important and forget anything which detracts from the goal. It’s not about speed, it’s not about the time, it’s all about completing the distance, running 42km/26miles.
This is what we need to do for our teams, our organisations.
We need to set big, bold goals, that will inspire them.
Create simple plans that allow us to make progress towards our goals on a daily basis, start the journey, monitor the progress, report the progress, and then we will inspire them that these big goals can be completed. Once they become inspired, they will become motivated and the goal will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
If you want to learn more about creating highly engaged teams or being a better leader click the link to make an appointment to talk about how I can help.
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