All tagged Achieving big goals
There’s a tendency we all have to try and ride out a tough spell or a difficult challenge. To try and just “get to the other side”, mentally, at least, even if you have to physically go through the motions.
Thing is, that’s a passive strategy. One that intends to remove us from the reality of the situation and the challenge of the actual battle.
There’s an excitement when we’re running at full tilt that’s hard to replicate. It’s as if every fiber of our being is alive and tingling, as we work towards a specific goal.
Certainly there’s a sense of risk (you might even call it fear) but it’s one that pushes us to stay on our toes, alert and focused. We’re geared to execute carefully, we’re mindful of staying agile as we do so, and we’re entirely focused on results.
One of the most common conversations you’ll have, as someone who manages others, is the conversation about goal achievement.
That is, what will it take to achieve our goals? What needs to be in place for us to get there? It’s a good discussion (usually) that keeps all of us grounded on the practical steps that should be taken to enable us to get to where we want to go.
When it comes to strategy and growth in an organization, of any size, the ability to create compelling, well thought-out plan is not the issue. Those are easy enough to pull together.
No, the key is always people. Who's involved, how committed are they and how we bring them along. How we do this is the focus of today's episode.
Today's podcast takes on the idea of having allies versus accomplices. That is, when we're growing something of consequence, social or economic, real progress is made when we have people willing to give - at some cost or risk to themselves - to further our collective goals. How they become accomplices is the real challenge.
One of the most common refrains I hear from business professionals - both young and old - is that the achievements of ‘celebrities’, in any walk of life, are the result of luck, or great timing, or some other reason that’s preordained.
In others words, their smarts and hard work were contributors but not drivers of their success. They rationalize that what drove that person’s success isn’t accessible to them, that they’re disproportionately benefitting from forces outside of their control.
Sometimes, the goals we set for ourselves are overwhelming. The bigger the goal or the more challenging the objective, the harder it can be to fathom how we will get there.
We get caught up in the sheer scale of our idea, or we start setting all sorts of impossible timelines and expectations that we think we need to achieve on our path there.
