As leaders it is our responsibility to set big, bold goals for our organisations.
We need to challenge ourselves and our teams to constantly keep improving, striving to be the best that we can be.
We need to inspire our teams to greatness, and small goals which are easily achieved are neither that inspiring nor that rewarding, when achieved.
Big, bold 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.
Three weeks 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 has never run more that 5 miles, and even that was 30 years ago, this was an improbable goal, not impossible, there are many people older than myself who never ran a marathon before, but who have completed one.
However, it a big challenge and it requires 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 beginners marathon training plan which seemed reasonable and doable.
It is a 144 day training plan, starting of 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 have Nike plus running application on my iphone, which allows me to record my progress, the distances, and times that I have run daily.
Even though the goal was improbable: with a simple plan; with steady progress; commitment; and encouragement of friends, the goal becomes more probable each day.
Since I started the goal has 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 need 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.
For my own goal, there is a long, long way to go, but progress is being made daily and what seemed improbable, now feels possible.
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