Goodbye, 2009! Hello, 2010! New year… new decade. New resolutions to be better, work harder and attain more. But how? If it were that easy to change our lives, wouldn’t we have done it already? How do we say farewell to mediocrity in the coming year and learn how to thrive?
Webster’s defines mediocrity as “moderate or low quality, value, ability, or performance.” Ugh.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I intend to make 2010 a great year. In order to fulfill that promise to myself, it is necessary to put some concrete plans in place today to facilitate success in the future. We all possess internal tools that can help take us beyond blasé and make our lives an affront to mediocrity.
There are three key elements to keep in mind when embarking on any new life trend:
1. Attitude
You can’t excel if you don’t believe you can, so you have to find creative ways to stay encouraged and inspired.
2. Action
Thinking happy thoughts and setting aggressive intentions isn’t ever enough. You have to change your behaviors.
3. Accountability
Follow through and commitment will help you transform a short term resolution into a new lifelong habit.
Six months… are you ready to kick your life up to the next level? In this upcoming series we’ll explore:
Courage. We all tend to be a little timid and fearful about change – no matter how passionately we give lip service to our dreams. Courage gives you the strength to take risks and move beyond historically dependable behaviors and conventional approaches to discover a whole vigorous new you underneath.
Fresh Perspective. Before you tackle any great task, you have to make peace with the possibility of both triumph or failure. You are neither as fabulous as your latest achievement nor as pathetic as your most recent defeat. Get ruthless about stretching your intellect and finding the path of least resistance to your destiny.
Inaction. I know, I know… I just talked about action. But all action is not physical. There is the crucial element of quiet reflection that also bears remembering. As the yin to action’s yang, give yourself space to relax, quit trying harder and experience a personal revolution. Slow down and shift gears so that you can hit your maximum velocity.
Uncommon sense. Logic is important. But so are intuition and elegant solutions that come to us in daydreams. While you don’t want to blithely leap off a cliff to your doom, sometimes we have to take a step of faith before the true path becomes clear before us. Your heart always knows the way forward before your head figures it out, so trust your gut and stand back as amazing things unfold in your world.
Suspended disbelief. Disbelief is the enemy of innovation and progress. If you truly want to manifest greatness, you must believe that success is possible - that you have all the tools you need to reach your goal – and, most importantly, that you have infinite worth and truly deserve the fulfillment of all your secret hopes and desires.
Encouragement. Any long-term life shift that you sustain is powered by a vivid picture of the dazzling impact you can make on the world, and that vision breeds endurance to drive relentlessly toward your target. The gift of encouragement can certainly come from others, but you must find within yourself the strength and fortitude to weather storms and to ignore the disapproval of others. A few trusted supporters combined with your own confidence will give you the power to build a firm foundation with the bricks that are thrown at you.
Right now, in this moment, you are capable of exponential improvement in your performance. You truly do have the ability to reach new highs, shatter old records and attain amazing achievements. You don’t have to be content with the status quo or improve things incrementally. Let’s take the next six months and move beyond mediocrity together!
Showing posts with label accountability. Show all posts
Showing posts with label accountability. Show all posts
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Friday, March 6, 2009
Developing Action Plans
So, what are action plans really?
Action planning typically includes deciding who is going to do what and by when and in what order for a whole company to reach its strategic goals. Now, if you're a sole proprietor you might be saying, “I AM THE WHOLE COMPANY!” And that’s OK. The design and implementation of your action plan will depend on the nature and needs of your unique business.
Actions plans specify the smaller tasks needed to achieve each of the core strategic planning issues your business faces. They become a bridge across the chasm between where you are and where you want to be. They outline measures of success so that you know when you reach each of the associated goals. They create accountability for follow through by spelling out who will tackle each action, what they need to complete the job, and what time line is acceptable.
"We think in generalities, but we live in detail." Very true.
Here is a quick guide to help you understand how to create an action plan and what elements should be included.
You need someone to take responsibility for each bold step within the action plan. Remember, if you don't reduce the steps to work assignments, they won't happen. And you've got to put someone's name on each one!
I’m working with a client right now who is extremely capable in his field of specialization, but has one huge managerial flaw. He fails to assign specific responsibilities to individuals. Instead, he constantly brainstorms ideas or suggests "we really ought to...,"you should think about..." And that's as close to organizing work as he'll get. Does he have problems? Oh, you bet! His staff comes out of meetings not knowing what to actually implement. They don’t know who is supposed to do what. No wonder the firm suffers from gridlock and chaos.
Let’s look at the elements of a good action plan one at a time:
Strategy: State exactly what strategy you are relying upon to guide the action plan.
Desired Results: Why bother at all? State upfront what will define success (your DESIRED STATE!)
Bold Action Steps: The real action plan should start as a list of the required action steps (or tactics) listed in chronological order so that they flow into each other and nothing crucial is skipped. These steps, taken together, will accomplish the intended strategy. Think about all the activities that must take place and in what order they make sense. What should be done first? What tasks will take a long time? How will the project logically unfold? List the steps in chronological order and by priority.
Assign Accountability: Write someone’s name down as responsible for each step on the list.
What is required?: Without creating a complete project plan for the responsible person, give them the framework to succeed by laying out your expectations of how the action step will unfold and your requirements of their work product. (This gives them the start of their own action plan with more detail!)
Resources and Investments: Naturally, you're going to employ resources to accomplish each action step. These resources may include money, space, equipment, people and information. List the specific resources required to complete each task. Go ahead and plan for allocating the resources to the responsible person as soon as they are needed. And while money is important, don’t discount the need for extra hands or knowledge you don’t currently possess. The resource which turns up scarce more often than any other is the human resource. Time and talent are priceless!
Measure of Success: What will be the key indicators that the action step is complete and has been a success? Lay out several critical factors that you will use to evaluate performance. These could be numbers, ratios, ratings, system changes, a new manual, etc…
Deadline: Things don’t tend to get done without a pressing date on the horizon. Even though you have to be flexible as a manager and allow the strategic plan to unfold in the best way, accountability is necessary to see results. Put down clear dates and set expectations for when each action step will be completed.
Action planning typically includes deciding who is going to do what and by when and in what order for a whole company to reach its strategic goals. Now, if you're a sole proprietor you might be saying, “I AM THE WHOLE COMPANY!” And that’s OK. The design and implementation of your action plan will depend on the nature and needs of your unique business.
Actions plans specify the smaller tasks needed to achieve each of the core strategic planning issues your business faces. They become a bridge across the chasm between where you are and where you want to be. They outline measures of success so that you know when you reach each of the associated goals. They create accountability for follow through by spelling out who will tackle each action, what they need to complete the job, and what time line is acceptable.
"We think in generalities, but we live in detail." Very true.
Here is a quick guide to help you understand how to create an action plan and what elements should be included.
You need someone to take responsibility for each bold step within the action plan. Remember, if you don't reduce the steps to work assignments, they won't happen. And you've got to put someone's name on each one!
I’m working with a client right now who is extremely capable in his field of specialization, but has one huge managerial flaw. He fails to assign specific responsibilities to individuals. Instead, he constantly brainstorms ideas or suggests "we really ought to...,"you should think about..." And that's as close to organizing work as he'll get. Does he have problems? Oh, you bet! His staff comes out of meetings not knowing what to actually implement. They don’t know who is supposed to do what. No wonder the firm suffers from gridlock and chaos.
Let’s look at the elements of a good action plan one at a time:
Strategy: State exactly what strategy you are relying upon to guide the action plan.
Desired Results: Why bother at all? State upfront what will define success (your DESIRED STATE!)
Bold Action Steps: The real action plan should start as a list of the required action steps (or tactics) listed in chronological order so that they flow into each other and nothing crucial is skipped. These steps, taken together, will accomplish the intended strategy. Think about all the activities that must take place and in what order they make sense. What should be done first? What tasks will take a long time? How will the project logically unfold? List the steps in chronological order and by priority.
Assign Accountability: Write someone’s name down as responsible for each step on the list.
What is required?: Without creating a complete project plan for the responsible person, give them the framework to succeed by laying out your expectations of how the action step will unfold and your requirements of their work product. (This gives them the start of their own action plan with more detail!)
Resources and Investments: Naturally, you're going to employ resources to accomplish each action step. These resources may include money, space, equipment, people and information. List the specific resources required to complete each task. Go ahead and plan for allocating the resources to the responsible person as soon as they are needed. And while money is important, don’t discount the need for extra hands or knowledge you don’t currently possess. The resource which turns up scarce more often than any other is the human resource. Time and talent are priceless!
Measure of Success: What will be the key indicators that the action step is complete and has been a success? Lay out several critical factors that you will use to evaluate performance. These could be numbers, ratios, ratings, system changes, a new manual, etc…
Deadline: Things don’t tend to get done without a pressing date on the horizon. Even though you have to be flexible as a manager and allow the strategic plan to unfold in the best way, accountability is necessary to see results. Put down clear dates and set expectations for when each action step will be completed.
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