Pitch out those New Year’s Resolutions…NOW!

That’s right – dump the list…and the guilt that always follows when you don’t follow through. Sure, I know it’s important to make a plan. After all, strategic planning is a main focus of my business. I encourage people to make a plan and follow it. But that’s a very different scenario from our annual flirtation with resolutions.

Most plans and all resolutions are very light on methodical follow through.

When it comes to planning, less is more – fewer goals, fewer tactics. When Dolly Parton was asked about plastic surgery, she retorted,

“Honey, you’ve gotta nip it, tuck it, suck it or chuck it!”

Of course you need some goals; high-level descriptions of results you want. In business the Balanced Scorecard approach suggests goals in only 4 areas; financial, customers, employees, and processes. (Robert Kaplan & David Norton)

But even a limited number of goals won’t get you the results you need. For each goal, set at least one objective; a concrete description of results to accomplish a goal. Make sure they are SMART; Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time Related.
        
But goals and objectives don’t float out of the air. Their purpose is to fulfill a mission; what you are trying to do or be and for whom. The mission and your detailed plan are the basis for daily decision making and action.

Once all of these elements are in place, you can figure out how to achieve each objective, what activities or tasks you will perform. Most people start at this tactical level without all the detail in between. You can end up with a to-do list that keeps you busy…but…Busyness is not good business.

OK, full disclosure: My own plan in 2010 had too many goals and objectives. I didn’t accomplish some of them. But I had a plan, tracked my progress, and made adjustments along the way. The result was a very successful year. As I finish my plan for the new year, I’m following my own advice. I’m on a goals diet.

One of those few goals is to make more planning and process resources available. I’ve already accomplished my first objective; convert a 30-day email mini-course coaching program on strategic planning into a very accessible e-book. It’s now available on Amazon Kindle…

30 Days to Creating a Strategic Plan that Gets Results is packed with the coaching advice I’ve given my successful clients; practical, proven tips, techniques, and strategies that get results and help you face the inevitable challenges of implementing a plan in a dynamic environment.

What’s in it for you?

• Increased results from your efforts significantly.
• Be more productive and effective.
• Show vastly improved financial performance.
• Fulfill your core mission with greater impact and less wasted activity.
• Engage employees fully to accomplish defined goals.
• Delight customers, consumers, constituents or clients who recognize you as the best source for products or services.
• Do more with less in any economic environment.

Invest in yourself and your work for a prosperous and happy year. Get the results you want with no resolutions, no guilt, and no wasted effort.

Enjoy your success…Enjoy your results.

 

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(c) Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, President, Advantage Leadership, Inc. Rebecca@AdvantageLeadership.com

 

Available on Amazon:
30 Days to Building a Strategic Plan that Gets Results (Kindle eBook)
Success Planning: A 'How-To' Guide for Strategic Planning (Soft cover manual)
Conventional Wisdom: How Today's Leaders Plan, Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers (Hard cover business book)

     Visit My Author Page on Amazon

http://www.advantageleadership.com/

http://www.conventionalwisdomcenter.com/

It's the Year of the Tiger...Dump those resolutions!

It's officially the Year of the Tiger and a welcomed relief it is...

But before we look forward, let's look back for a moment. If you celebrate the western new year by making resolutions, you've probably broken or forgotten them by now. And it's just as well. Resolutions don't work...something you've already figured out for yourself. But why don't they work?

• Resolutions are tactical. They are isolated bits of activity, unrelated to anything else.


• Resolutions don't come with an action plan. They are usually a description of some result we want but are really just a wish.


• Resolutions have no staying power. They arise from good intentions but are not tied to daily life.

If you really want to see results, you have to have a plan, a strategic plan, that's attached to your overall direction in life, your vision of the future, your path. In other words, planning for your life is just like planning in business. Vision --> Mission --> Goals --> Strategy --> Objectives --> Tactics/Actions --> RESULTS

George Washington comes to mind as a role model for life plans. As a young man, he decided to shape his character and become an admirable human being. He laid out a plan that he followed throughout his life. He set goals and had an action plan to reach those goals. He knew he wasn't a saint. For example, he had a legendary temper but he worked hard to not let it rip every time he was angered. As he matured, he realized that history would be watching and he amplified his efforts...all with a plan.

"I walk on untrodden ground. There is scarcely any part of my conduct which may not hereafter be drawn into precedent." He would agree with Ben Franklin, "One man of tolerable Abilities may work great Changes, and Accomplish great Affairs among Mankind, if he first forms a good Plan and...makes the Execution of that same Plan his sole Study and Business."

So throw out those resolutions, put together a plan worthy of yourself and this auspicious year. Be brave like the Tiger and plan for your success.

(c) Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, President, Advantage Leadership, Inc. http://www.advantageleadership.com/

October is International Strategic Planning Month

This month the planet is celebrating International Strategic Planning Month. Why not join in the celebration?

What does your own plan look like? Tattered around the edges? Way off projected revenue and profit? Forgotten in some dusty corner? Not updated since February?

Or maybe you're one of those successful people who has a plan and keeps it up-to-date. You use the plan to guide your work, adjust it as necessary, and use it as a living document. If so, you celebrate ISP every month.

I was on a TV interview show recently with the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. He emphasized the need for executing the plan and adjusting the plan based on conditions on the ground. Now this is an important and even critical part of planning that too many people forget about.

Those of us who do create a strategic plan every year are often optimistic about what we can accomplish. We do the best job we can to analyze the environment in which we will be operating but none of us has a crystal ball...Stuff happens.

Unfortunately, too many folks drop the plan and start reacting to those unexpected events -- usually negative events -- and then we are into a downward spiral of firefighting.

When this year started, the ink on my plan was barely dry when the economic melt down hit me and my business hard. It was a scary couple of months -- disaster loomed and businesses were folding right and left. I was just as scared and worried as anyone else.

What I did was go back to the drawing board. I rewrote my plan, set new goals, devised new strategies, and set out on a new execution path. Everything I tried didn't work but some things did. As my friend the CEO said, "you can have the most elegant strategy, but when you hit the beach, it's execution that counts." Usually I'm not a big fan of war analogies in business but this is one of the times when the metaphor fit...and worked. I had to be more nimble, more creative, and more survival oriented than at any time in my business life.

The payoff? It's October and I'm still in business celebrating International Strategic Planning month. My plan? I just finished a new update that will take me through the second quarter of 2010. I may revise it a gain in 3 months -- the plan is only as good as the execution.

What about you? Have you made your plan for 2010? Now's a good time. Remember the old chestnut that's still floating around because it's true -- Fail to Plan -- Plan to Fail!

Want to know more about the Do's and Don'ts of Strategic Planning? Download it for free today. http://tinyurl.com/yfp6zfo

(c) Rebecca Staton-Reinstein and Advantage Leadership, Inc.