“We succeed only as we identify in life, or in war, or in anything else, a single overriding objective, and make all other considerations bend to that one objective.”
Dwight David Eisenhower
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March 2008
Have you found yourself caught by ‘bright shiny objects’ lately? You know – those great ideas that are too good to pass up… So you take on one after another until you’ve completely lost focus on your key objectives.
Let’s get you back on track!
Ask yourself:
“What single key objective do I want to make measurable progress on this week?”
Write that goal on 5 Post-It notes. Put one on your phone, one on your computer, one on your calendar or PDA. The fourth goes on your note pad and the fifth on the center of your steering wheel.
They’re there to give you pause before you leap into action on any new idea that comes to mind
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© 2008 Linda Feinholz.
The world is full of fabulous ideas. Some of them are extensions of your current products and services and would add materially to your bottom line profits. Others are outright innovations that could dramatically launch your business to new heights.
And sometimes those ideas pull you ‘off focus.’ My client’s management team is running around like…. Hmmm, ‘chickens with their heads cut off’ is the typical expression we’d use here. But let’s shift the metaphor to one that’s more useful for building effective businesses.
I sat in employee feedback sessions on behalf of my client. The questions I posed to more than 30 people were “What is working well here?” and “What could be working better?” and also “What are your impressions of the management team as Leaders? As Managers? As a Team?”
Over and over again the senior professionals were described as well-intentioned, but poor on execution.
The common phrase that was used by the people I spoke with, at every level in the company, was “We all run around like everything is a fire drill!”
The irony is the entire team spends hundreds of hours preparing plans and key objectives for the coming year. They agree to all of it. Yet that’s not how their behavior shows up the rest of the year.
Everyone on the management team drops everything to take on projects that aren’t on the plan. They run to solve customer emergencies, and work overtime on special projects that were never planned for. They all operate this way for a very specific reason: the head of the company rewards people for being flexible and looking urgent.
Let me say that another way: one of their key performance indicators is how quickly they jump to take on any new thing that is proposed, simply because someone paints a compelling picture about how valuable the effort would be.
No one steps up to ask “How does this fit with the objectives we set for the year?” Their personal focus has become to ‘jump’ and prove to their boss that they will whenever called.
As you can imagine, at the end of the year, many of the goals they set out in their plan have not been achieved.
You can sure bet they hear about that when it’s time to review their results.
Most important of all, the reason for the fire drill is basic: The team needs to learn to tie all their activities to their key objectives.
So I’m rolling up my sleeves to teach the entire management team how to set and keep objectives in a new way. I’ve found there are 3 Keys to setting objectives that stick:
First – Set objectives that have a measurable value to your business – a value YOU actually want.
You may ask why this even needs to be said? It’s all about the trap of ‘shoulds.’ Many times when I begin my work with new clients, they have a list of objectives that reads more like a list of ‘shoulds’ than actual goals.
At times the goals they set come from industry standards. At others from articles or advisors or lists of ‘best practices.’ They may sound right, but that doesn’t make them right for their business or yours.
When your heart isn’t behind your goals, you’ll write them down and promptly ignore them.
Second – Keep track daily, not just weekly or monthly, if your activities are getting you closer to those objectives.
By making your goals measurable, you’ll be able to evaluate your results. And as important, you’ll be able to assess whether you should even be pursuing a particular course of action – before you invest time, money and energy towards it.
Third – Politely turn away all other activities.
Remember those ‘fabulous ideas’ I mentioned at the top? Check any and all new ideas that show up against your list of objectives. If new ideas don’t address one of your objectives exactly, and I mean EXACTLY, put it on a list for next year’s plan and get your attention back on focus.
I know, I know. It’s a true challenge to see them and to not pursue them. To put them on a list and get back to them later, if at all. Yet it’s the only way to leverage your efforts.
If you use these three Keys, you’ll achieve your true objectives and create powerful results. They’ll keep you on track so you can get the highest payoff from your planned activities.
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