“Why do you think you never looked at your plan this past year?” I asked. Rachel was quite interested in making her 2007 plan different.
“I’m not sure,” she replied. “It was almost like it didn’t matter. We could re-read it and talk about, but it still didn’t seem to matter all that much.”
“That’s why purpose is so important. That’s why purpose is the first step. Purpose drives the rest of the plan. Without a well defined purpose, your plan will be uninteresting and just sit on the shelf.”
“So, we really need to have a purpose,” Rachel was nodding, enthusiasm creeping across her face.
“No,” I said. Rachel’s face turned quizzical. “You don’t need to have a purpose. You need to find a purpose that has you. You need to find a purpose that has a hold on you so tight that you can’t stop thinking about it. You need to find a purpose that captures you. When you find that purpose, you won’t have any problem pulling your plan off the shelf and working it.
“Find a purpose that has you.” -TF
That really is the bottom line in life in general, and management specifically. Anyone that can interact with a purpose that “has them,” will find the rest not that difficult to do.
A manager without a purpose is just carried around by anything that may come their way. This type of purpose keeps us on course and drives us in all that we do.
Gary, I believe you just articulated the secret sauce, the keys to the kingdom and the stairway to heaven.