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This article is a follow-up to the big lie ineffective leaders tell themselves
CONTEXT: “Any business that can optimize and maximize an individual’s talent and worth, whilst assimilating it into a collective whole, will be the one that succeeds.” (Senge, Peter. The Fifth Discipline).
The most effective leaders prepare people for the future. They prepare themselves, their team, and their organization. This article is about how effective-leaders prepare themselves for the future via the development and implementation of a personal life plan that is both structured and flexible to allow for changes in their environment.
The method to develop a life plan for an individual is actually very similar to the development of a strategic and tactical plan for an organization. So, if you are one that understands how to develop a strategic and tactical plan, what’s explained below about how to develop and implement a personal life plan should be somewhat familiar to you. Additionally, you should also understand that organizations that do not have a formal strategic and tactical plan, or ones that have them but do not follow-through to implement them, will create an organizational culture that is unhealthy. Such organizations do not align on a common direction, so they do not execute effectively, which prevents them from renewing themselves over time. Finally, you will also understand that the people in such organizations lack confidence in their leaders. Why? Because they realize the leaders don’t know where they want to take the organization and eventually that will negatively impact their overall performance and ultimately everyone’s job. And just like in an organization without direction, if you do not have a personal plan, or purpose for your life, or if you have one, but you are not acting on it, you may negatively impact one or more of the five components of your overall personal health (physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual), which could lead to a decrease in your performance and contribute to an overall lack of self-confidence that hinders your ability to renew yourself over time.
The next two paragraphs are quoted from https://www.indeed.com/:
WHAT IS A LIFE PLAN? A LIFE PLAN IS A ROADMAP FOR YOUR LIFE that helps you prioritize what is important to you, make decisions based on your priorities and move toward the life you want. It should provide a clear path for your life, but it should also be flexible. As your life changes, your values and priorities may also change. A life plan is a living, breathing document that requires periodic attention to ensure it accurately reflects your life. It is your own personal guide to how you want to live, what is important to you and what you need to do to achieve the life you want.”
WHY IS A LIFE PLAN IMPORTANT? A life plan is important to help you take control of your life and your future. In creating a life plan, you identify your values, what is important to you and what you want in your life. Then, when faced with decisions, you measure your options against your values and choose the option that best aligns with your priorities or that moves you forward on your chosen path. Whether it’s a simple decision such as spending money on something you don’t really need versus saving your money to fulfill a dream of starting your own business, or a major decision such as a career change, a life plan helps you clearly decide what is right for you.”
SO HOW DO YOU DEVELOP A LIFE PLAN?
STEP 1 – BELIEFS: It starts with assuring that you have a clear understanding of your personal beliefs and the associated implication for each of them. Beliefs are the internal assumptions you make about how the world works. Your beliefs may be unproven or irrational and therefore, you should remain open to critically assess them and be willing to change them over time. An associated implication is the effect that a belief may have on your behavior. An example of a belief and the associated implications might be: “I believe that no one comes to work wanting to create problems and it only takes average intelligence to be successful in business – so I believe that people want things to go well and they are capable of understanding how business works”. The implication of that belief might be: “when things are not going as desired because our employees don’t seem to understand what we need to do and why, it’s our fault as leaders and it is up to us to fix it – we are responsible if they do not understand.”
STEP 2 – VALUES: Next you identify what you value most in your life and why each of them is so important to you. Values are the things you believe are important in the way you live and work. They should determine your priorities, be used as the basis for your decision-making, and deep down they are the measures you use to tell you if your life is working out the way you intended. Some of the values people consider to be most significant are: (1) their relationships with their children; (2) their relationships with their extended family; (3) their personal relationships; (4) their spiritual life; (5) their physical well-being; (6) their mental well-being; (7) their career / work life; (8) their financial viability; (9) their involvement in the community; (10) their intellectual life; (11) other.
You should identify your values, define them, prioritize them, and then make sure you clearly understand why each value you select is so important to you. A technique you might try to help you dig down to clearly understand why each value is so important is called “The Five Whys.” Ask yourself why a particular value is so important to you – think about it and then write down your answer. Then ask yourself why what you wrote down is so important to you – think about that for a while and then write down your answer to why that is so important. If you dig down to 3 – 5 whys you will identify the “real-why” a value is so important to you. The degree to which you understand why a value is important to you increases the probability that you will act on that value. You should go through this process for each value that you identify.
STEP 3 – VALUES - CURRENT STATE SITUATION: Next, select what you believe is your most important value. Develop five prioritized statements that reflect what you perceive to be your current state situation for that value. For example, you might have identified that your most important value is the relationship you have with your children and you understand clearly why this value is so important to you. An example current situation statement might be that you do not actively listen to the frustrations and concerns of your children on a regular basis and you understand the impact of such a behavior. You will go through this process for each of your values. I would suggest you complete the current state situation for only one of your values, then go through step 4 for that value. Then after step 4 is completed for that value go to your next most important value and follow the same process until you’ve addressed all of your values identified.
STEP 4 – VISION STATEMENTS FOR YEARS, 1, 2, 3: Pick your most significant value. You just completed five prioritized statements that reflect your current state. Now look out 1-year and ask yourself where you want to be in 1-year associated with that value. Write down five statements that reflect your vision for that value. Then look ahead 3-years and ask yourself where you want to be in 3-years. Write five statements that reflect where you want to be. Finally, bridge the gap between year 1 and year 3 by completing the vision statements for year-2. At the end of this step you will have identified your vision for each of your values looking out 1, 2, and 3-years.
STEP 5 – STRENGTHS, WEAKNESS, AND HOW YOU LEARN: “Cultivate a deep understanding of yourself – not only what your strengths and weaknesses are but also how you learn, how you work with others … and where you can make the greatest contribution. Because only when you operate from strengths can you achieve true excellence.” (Peter Drucker, management consultant, educator, and author).
Now focus on your 1-year vision statements. Identify and describe your five most significant strengths that will enable you to achieve your desired result for each of your values. You will also want to identify and describe your most significant weaknesses and along with capturing how you learn. You will want to identify how you might leverage your strengths, mitigate your weaknesses, and strengthen how you learn.
STEP 6 – MEASUREMENTS OF SUCCESS: Focus on your 1-year vision. How will you measure whether you are making progress and / or achieving success on your 1-year vision statements? You will want to identify both leading and lagging measurements of success for each of your values.
STEP 7 – ACTIONS TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS Pick your priority value. Take a look at your current state performance vs. your 1st-year vision statements. Start to identify actions you will need to take to achieve your 1st-year vision statements. Identify and prioritize your actions then establish start dates (when you’ll start the action) and due dates (when you will complete the action). You will need to insert your start and completed due dates in your planner along with your other regular daily activities. This means you will need to reserve personal capacity to achieve your future state 1-year vision.
STEP 8 –AUTHENTIC SELF-EXAMINATION: Everyone knows that rapid change is all around us. That is why it is important to apply a Growth Mindset to reflect on your beliefs, values, and actions. You will want to identify what you need to stop doing, start doing, accelerate doing and just plain accept some things that you are doing. What I’ve learned in working with some clients is that some find it difficult to forgive themselves for not making as much progress as they planned. Holding grudges against oneself is never a good idea – it actually hinders future performance.
SUMMARY: I am sure it might seem to some that putting together a life-plan is a lot of work – well, it is a lot work. So is putting together a team improvement plan and developing a strategic and tactical plan for your organization. But, if you don’t identify what the future looks like and what actions it will take to achieve it, how is it possible to adequately prepare for it? Many leaders seek a purpose in their life – yours can be to help others in your organization see there is a future that is common to us all – and that the future is a positive one – and we can realize it by doing what is best for us as individuals, as teams, and as an entire organization.
Tailored. Focused. Solutions. If you, or an executive that you know, would be interested in meeting one of our representatives to discuss how we can help you realize the benefits of our results-based and tailored proven approach, contact Incline Insights, LLC.
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