“Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.” Oscar Wilde
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“You gotta have a dream. If you don’t have a dream, how you gonna make a dream come true?”
Imagine… you have been granted one wish for your business for the next 24 months. Because you have only one wish, you must think carefully and strategically. What will you choose?
Write it down. Mull it over for a few days. Let it seep in and take hold. Does it “grab you in the gut?” Is it aspirational andrealistic? Will your team understand it and their role in accomplishing it?
Congratulations! You have taken a giant step toward creating a BHAG – your Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal.* It is big. It is bold and powerful. And here’s the good news – with some different thinking, a bit of struggle and a dash of luck, attaining you’re BHAG is closer than you think.
Five sure-fire tips for creating a great BHAG.
How did this organization go from a solid – but fairly pedestrian – goal of: “By 2018, our goal is to make sure thousands of children read above their grade level”…to an aspirational – yet realistic – BHAG of, “We will improve the lives of thousands of children and families by engaging more than 50% of students in America Reads programs. This will result in 90% of students in local elementary schools reading above grade level at age 8”?
Put the following 5 tips to work to transform your hum-drum goal into an inspired and inspiring BHAG. Your team – and your customers – will thank you.
A great BHAG “gets you in the gut.” It paints a vivid picture of what a successful future could look like…for you and your team. Anyone who reads it will understand it and be inspired by it.
A great BHAG may very well be transformational. It will inspire you and your team to innovate and stretch beyond what you’re used to doing. Together, you will do it!
A great BHAG provides a “Bull’s Eye” for you and your team. It is highly-focused, tangible and energizing. You and your team will know what you want to accomplish as well as a bit about how you’re going to do it. You will focus on it relentlessly.
A great BHAG Cascades: Your BHAG will “cascade” to all of your team members. Every team member will not only know what the company BHAG is, they will know exactly what they’re doing to contribute to it. It is a beautiful thing.
Be patient: Don’t panic! You won’t yet know the details of how to accomplish the BAG when you set it. Many smaller goals need to be accomplished before your BHAG is accomplished. Your BHAG will inspire the creation of your annual plan that contains these “smaller” goals.
So there you have it! Five tips to creating a formidable BHAG that will inspire you and your team in 2018 and beyond.
Stay tuned for my next blog post on why quarterly “check-in” meetings are the difference between having a great year and one that ends with you asking yourself “what went wrong?”
* Thanks to Jim Collins who coined the BHAG term in his ground-breaking book based on 6 years researching the world’s best companies, “Built to Last.”
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If you would like assistance (a lot or a little) organizing or facilitating your 2018-2019 strategy and planning process, we can help. We offer a solid and simple process and expert facilitation to help you and your organization map out a plan that will guide you to your2018-2019 vision.
Why BHAGs Eat ‘Ordinary Goals’ for Lunch
At CEO Vision, we believe that women leaders can be great leaders who build high-performing teams, organizations, and cultures. Ifyou believe what we believe and are ready to commit to developing the women leaders in your organization to become inspired, inspiring and confident leaders who attain bottom-line results, we can help.