Tag Archive - leadership

At 80% ready, MOVE!

September 5, 2011 in Leadership with 0 Comments

Take quick action to avoid analysis paralysis and lead:

It is said–though probably apocryphal–that Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest explained his victories by his “getting there firstest with the mostest.” There is valid reasoning in getting there first. Life is about success not perfection. The first one into a market often becomes the leader, correcting imperfections later. Life-saving decisions and interventions are best done rapidly. Speed is often associated with intelligence when complex tasks are involved. You can’t be slow to pay the bets at a craps table in a casino. Try to improve your speed. Most people can identify an “i” even if it isn’t dotted. When you’re 80% ready, MOVE!

Source: Alan Weiss’ Monday Morning Memo, a quick hit on leadership and consulting best practices. Subscription recommended.

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Your Big Hairy Audacious Goal should attract scoffers

April 19, 2011 in Coaching, Leadership with 0 Comments

Photo by ff137

If some people see your Big Hairy Audacious Goal as a snowball bound to melt away on a hot day, and others think you are whacked, you are on the right track.

Big Hairy Audacious Goals are BIG. How big? Big enough so you can only take them from impossible to possible by transforming yourself and your organization. They’re so big:

  • “Your idea doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in Phoenix of succeeding–yet your gut tells you that if it does, the impact will be game changing.”
  • “Most of the people who you tell about your plans think you are whacked.”

Big Hairy Audacious Goals are those achievements passionate leaders dream about and others scoff at.

  • Man on the moon in 10 years (President Kennedy)
  • Transform minor desktop computer company into world’s largest, most influential consumer products company (Apple)
  • Restore a moribund football team (Coach Bo Pelini, Nebraska Cornhuskers)

(Blatant self promotion: Big Hairy Audacious Goals are best achieved with a leadership coach who may at first be the only one who believes in you, who thinks your idea isn’t whacked and can easily survive a hot Phoenix day. I am such a coach, and you can read more here about how I help make Big Hairy Audacious Goals possible.)

I got the two quoted points above about snowballs and whacked ideas from Dean Rotbart of Buzzsnatching, who shows people how to get national attention for their promotional efforts. He argued those points (and several others) separate a compelling, attention-grabbing idea from one that’s just ho-hum.

The same things, it seems to me, separate that ho-hum reach goal you might feel obligated to pursue from the Big Hairy Audacious Goal you passionately dream of pursuing.

Is your Big Hairy Audacious Goal cold and whacked enough? Tell me about it in the comments.

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My thanks to American Marketing Association Lincoln for bringing Dean Rotbart to Lincoln. If you live anywhere near Lincoln, AMA’s excellent monthly educational luncheons are not to be missed.

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Even coaches need a coach

March 17, 2011 in Coaching with 0 Comments

A screenshot of the St. John's basketball home page.I tell my coaching clients everyone needs a coach—and now I have a handy sports anecdote to back it up. NPR’s Morning Edition reports that the Red Storm of St. John’s has a shot in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament for the first time in nearly a decade. A key factor is basketball oracle Gene Keady, who serves as an advisor—read, coach—to St. John’s Coach Steve Lavin.

Need a coach of your own? I work with professionals so passionate about an Big Hairy Audacious Goal that they’re eager to transform themselves and their organizations to realize it. Contact me for a free consultation.

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