Resolve Small

By now, the vast majority of New Year's resolutions have failed. It's a recurring theme. State an ambitious goal, make a plan, start with enthusiasm...and fade. The problem lies in using the goal as the target. And the size of the goal doesn't matter much. Whether it's 10 pounds or 50 is incidental. There's a good chance we won't lose all of the weight not because the goal is too aggressive, but because the focus is on the outcome, not what it takes to get there.

The resolve should be centered on habit forming. And furthermore, it should begin with really small habits, which eventually will lead to bigger ones. Want to run a first marathon in the upcoming year having not run more than a mile since grade school? The marathon shouldn't be the resolution. Forming habits to become a runner should be the resolution. Then, start small. Put on sneakers every morning at 5:30 am and walk to the mail box. Every day, without fail, rain, snow or shine. Do this every day and you'll be walker. Then, you can add in running. Over time, you'll be a runner. And if nothing else, you'll be sure to check your mail.

Goals are important. Who we become is more important. We become what we do, day after day.

Specific is Scary

But it's also necessary if we're going to be on the hook for going somewhere, serving someone and creating better things for them. Simply saying we're going to be better doesn't mean much without drawing some lines in the sand. We need to define better in great detail. Better for whom? Is our product for middle aged women? Or, for middle aged Moms with a career who enjoy vintage clothing and Bogart movies? Better might mean to make people happy. But, how will we know when they're happy? What actions will they take? What, specifically, does happy look like? Better might mean having a successful career. But, what does success look like? How can we hope to get there without defining exactly where we're going?

Ambiguity and lack of clarity are not friends of leading change. They actually work against it...because they offer a way out. However, if we commit to a certain outcome, one with specific boundaries and measurable achievements, we free ourselves, both to succeed...and to fail. But when we fail, we’ll know specifically why we failed with clues telling us how we failed. Consequently, we’ll have a much better chance of correctly changing tactics or the course before proceeding any further. Often, quite often in fact, nebulous goals and lack of commitment are the foundations of failure, not because the supporting work isn’t good, but because we never understood what success looked like in the first place. So our goal is to replace blurry with focus, very sharp focus. Our goal is to be on the hook for a very specific outcome, which is scary because we'll know precisely when we fail. No way out.

How Did We Do?

…is far different than how did I do. It’s easy to think of performance as a singular act…how did I contribute? How did I make a difference? But if everyone is thinking this way, the greater good is lost. Finding ways to improve individual effort is a worthwhile undertaking…more people pushing the boulder up the hill, and pushing it harder improves the outcome. But if the outcome is the true goal, measure that and then enroll others and lead them to work harder for it. The difficult work is getting people to go somewhere, not evaluating them once they get started.

Leader Goals

Almost everyone sets goals at the beginning of the year…it’s what we’re conditioned to do. And it’s not a bad thing. Goals are good...they give us measurable targets which support our purpose.

Management goals are the most popular with key targets including profitability, employee turnover, sales volume and the like. Personal goals revolving around health, weight loss, spending more time with kids and life balance often make the list. 

But what about leaders? Leaders have a different responsibility…they’re accountable for leading others to make change. Specifically, leaders…

Seek change...because they are unsatisfied with the status quo. They envision a better future and are bold enough to take responsibility and leap.

Teach...because creating a culture and a future other people want and then leading them there is more effective and long-lasting than commanding an outcome. Teach vs. Tell.

Learn...because it’s the prerequisite to teaching and making change. Learning indicates forward motion and a desire to make positive change happen. But when combined with empathy and openness to new ideas, it’s the most important choice we can make. Nothing would change if no one learned.

The appropriate leadership goals then begin with these questions…answer wisely, be specific and be accountable.

1. What will you learn?

1. What will you teach?

1. What change will you make?

Read Email 2nd

It’s the official season of creating new goals, habits and self-improvement. Here’s one I adopted a few years back…read email 2nd.

Many people have a habit of reading email (Facebook or the newspaper if you’re old enough) as a first step to start off their day. The problem with consuming “news” first is that it steals your time. Time which could be better spent on creating something, leading change, learning or somehow moving things forward. There is virtually nothing that can’t wait another thirty minutes…unless you’ve overslept by two hours.

Imagine what you might accomplish if you reserved the first thirty minutes of your day for creation vs. consumption. You might become a better writer, marketer or poet. You might finish that model ship. You might enjoy meaningful conversations with your children. You might do something far more important…first.

Try it for thirty days straight (that’s what it will take to form a habit). If it doesn’t change your life for the better, go back to Gmail.

Happy New Year!