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Leadership Thought #466 – Do You Have A Plan?

March 12, 2014

Free Female Engineer Holding Presentation Stock Photo

I am regularly surprised by how many business owners/leaders operate without a plan.  They simply make it up as they go along.  I guess if you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.  I sometimes wonder if this mindset is purposeful.  It’s hard to hold someone accountable (including yourself) if there are no real markers for success.  You can also apply any excuse to explain why the business isn’t more successful.

Without a plan, your business is like a tumbleweed blowing in the wind. You don’t know where it will end up and the course it takes to get there is subject to the whims of outside forces.  Unfocused effort only ever leads to frustration, miscommunication, wasted effort, poor financial decision-making, unnecessary stress, and less than optimal results.

As a leader, you need to plan for the following:

 

Leadership is challenging workYou are paid to think not just do.  Your people look to you for focus and direction. Without a map of what to do, they will stumble about and fill in the blanks on their own.  Each person will have their own definition of what’s important and don’t be surprised if this is often different from what you want.  The first person you need to hold accountable is yourself.  Success is rarely ever an accident.  You need to have a plan of where you want to go if you want to have a decent chance of getting there.

 

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