I’ve never been one to set New Year’s resolutions – at least not ones that I’m actually committed to accomplishing. And, for the most part, I’m not married to goals. I’ve actually found them to be a little cumbersome at times.
However, goals do have real value, especially big ones. Jim Collins, in his book Built To Last, introduced the idea of Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals (by the way, this one, along with Good to Great & his newest one, Great By Choice are great reads for ministry leaders). BHAGs are suggested as being great for long-term accomplishment, and they are, both personally & organizationally. As a leader, I need to think long-term, but be flexible. And I have found that my personal goals greatly impact my ability to lead successfully.
Personally, this year I decided to set some BHAGs as a sort of reboot in a few areas. In 2012, my personal BHAGs are:
- Run/ride 1000 miles. I’m not terribly out of shape, but health has not been a priority of late. To accomplish this goal I not only need a steady weekly dose of running/riding (just under 20 miles/week), but it also forces me to consider other areas, like my diet, water intake, etc.
- Read through the Bible. While I’m fairly consistent with my “quiet time” (devotions, or whatever you want to call it), I’ve not done a read-through in several years. I use this plan because it keeps me in just 1 book & is chronological instead of in the order in books. The daily discipline & big picture overview has been great.
- Memorize Philippians . Again, while I’ve not neglected my spiritual life, this discipline has not been a priority over the past several years. But it is invaluable. So I decided to start with my favorite book of the Bible. At first it seemed daunting, but guess what? I figured out it’s only 2 verses per week! Who can’t do that? Just takes some discipline.
- Read 50 books. Serving under John Maxwell taught me the value of reading. He taught me one of the most valuable disciplines I’ve ever learned – commit to reading just 1 chapter per day. Doing this gets you through about 25 books per year. I’ve been pretty consistent with that, but there are so many books I want to read I decided to double the commitment. So far, so good, and I am so enjoying it! (So far I’ve read Great By Choice, Amplified Leadership & Stretch. Right now I’m reading EntreLeadership, I Blew It! & Jumping The Track)
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So what do these have to do with leading my organization (be it a ministry, department, church or business)? I’ve found that pursuing personal goals:
- Helps me transfer discipline to other areas (organizational) more easily. Discipline becomes a way of life, and that makes everything I do better & more focused.
- Keeps me healthy & growing. Not just physically, but mentally & emotionally, which obviously transfers to how I lead others.
- Expands my belief in what can be accomplished. The thinking is along the lines of “if I can do this personally, what can we do corporately?!”
- Sets an example to my team. While I don’t expect my team to duplicate my personal goals, I do expect them to be committed to a healthy lifestyle, and growing personally & spiritually. I don’t make a big deal about what I’m doing – they’ll see it in how I spend my time & keep my priorities as I pursue my BHAGs, and that example says a lot.
- Helps me enjoy everything more deeply. I love what I do, but I’ve found when I am personally growing, healthy & accomplishing what I consider big goals, it somehow translates to enjoying everything more. That makes me a better leader.
Now here’s a few things to remember:
- Goals are not Gods. I’ve seen some people so totally committed to their goals that they actually end up hurting others or their organization through their fanatical commitment to them. Don’t do that.
- Goals are guides. They should lead me to something bigger that I want to accomplish. I don’t want to read 50 books just to say I read 50 books. I want to learn from those 50 books. I don’t want to run/ride 1000 miles just to be able to say I did it…I want to do it because it will help me maintain a healthier lifestyle. Goals should be set to help us accomplish something greater in our life & organization.
- Goals must be adjustable. I am loving my friend, Roger Fields’ book called Jumping The Track. Besides some ridiculously funny stories of Roger’s journey (which are very relevant to me as I represent Kidz Blitz on the West Coast), he also talks about some very practical leadership principles. One of them is the idea of abandoning long term goal-setting, and I agree! I believe 5 & 10 year goal-setting is, for the most part, a thing of the past (our world is just changing too fast). So above, when I said “long term goals”, I mean 6 months or a year. These are reasonable, both personally & organizationally, but they have to be adjustable. The whole premise of Roger’s book is the idea of being able to abruptly change directions (jump tracks). This is true for goals, too.
I’ve learned that goal setting is very useful for getting things done and helps you be on top of things too. I love your goal for running and biking, you can do it!