Our Big Goals Create Impact and Offer Priceless Journeys

The Destination is Nice, Yet the Joy is in the Journey

We moved to our lake home at the tail end of the pandemic. It was a shift from our 30-year suburban Chicago-area home and a chance to run our own version of one of those home renovation shows, where we did a poor imitation of Chip and Joanna, leading a top-to-bottom renovation and a remake of 600 or so feet of lake shoreline.

A lot of money, time, and labor a few years later, and we’re down to the final touches on the big work. While it’s annoyingly easy for me to see another dozen minor projects every time I walk the grounds, we’ve reached a good destination. It’s time to enjoy the success of achieving our goal. There’s just one problem. What’s next? is on our minds.

Goals, Learning, Growth, and Impact

Shifting from our personal initiative to my professional work, in both my new (er) manager and senior manager programs, we spend a good deal of time exploring the issues and challenges of our personal-professional and team member goals.

My content in those programs builds on the work of Locke and Latham for goal-setting theory, suggesting we develop fewer, larger goals that, when achieved, offer the potential for a big impact. Annoyingly, many of our corporate practices fly in the face of the research, so there are some interesting discussions on how to blend the theory with their organization’s current state with goals. (Also, see my article on why I believe it’s time to get rid of S.M.A.R.T. Goals.)

I love the idea of fewer, larger goals that are not constrained to a fiscal period. These types of goals, particularly when blended with coaching, exploration, experimentation, and feedback, bring big ideas to life.

Big goals require us to learn, create, seek input, and work hard to gain feedback. Yet, when we succeed, they offer a big impact in some meaningful way for us and our organizations.

Caution: Goals can also introduce or emphasize less-than-desirable behaviors. Wells Fargo, your table is ready. It’s good to look closely at the behaviors your/your team member’ pursuit of their goals will emphasize or suppress.

Big Goals Demand Tradeoffs

Yet, another element of the goals process involves making tradeoffs. The time invested in pursuing a big goal is time that you’re not doing something else. This holds true in our personal lives as well as at work.

In my case, my commitment to two goals: renovate and transform our living situation and complete two beginning-to-end drafts of my next book has sucked enormous amounts of time from activities I care about, especially blogging. Ironically, I’m writing more than ever but haven’t been blogging much. (That’s about to change.)

The other self-imposed wound to my goals’ progress and blogging work was my overly kind gesture to fill in for a professor who was on hiatus. I ended up with 80 students and a ridiculous volume of work. I love teaching, but just because I love it and do it at a high level doesn’t mean that I should. Lesson reinforced. “No” is indeed a powerful word.

A Refresh—My Next Big Goals

With the big goal of the house mostly out of the way, I’ve revised my BIG goals list. Here are the two in process:

1. Complete my next book, The Manager’s Journey—From Contributor to Effective Manager, during 2024 and have a clear path to market.

It is my intent that this book and the supporting web, e-learning, workshop, and coaching services function as the modern guidebook for guiding individuals from contributors to the type of managers we need to help us survive and thrive in this complex and uncertain world. Yeah, I have high aspirations for this goal. Otherwise, why pursue it?

2. Launch my Career Shift practice, focusing on helping later-career professionals design a “next” that fits their life and professional priorities. This will take place during the Summer of 2024.

I expect Career Shift to develop into part of my business’s core during the next three years. I’ve worked with hundreds of clients on this and find the work exhilarating. It’s time to formalize it and help the growing number of active, later-stage professionals find the best work of their lives.

Chasing Big Goals is a Process

A big goal demands that we learn, explore, and experiment. I’m having to create the processes and accountability necessary to move forward with them. In one case, I’m paying a coach for help. I’m setting milestones that make sense right now but allow for discovery and revision. I’m looking at how I spend my time and saying “no” to some activities while scaling others back. And I remind myself daily of why these two goals are so important to me. The meaning promotes actions.

Oh, and blogging on process and progress is one of the actions I’ve committed to in pursuit of achieving these goals.

Four Goals Questions for You:

What’s the one personal goal that is big and potentially impactful for you?
What’s the one professional goal that is big and potentially impactful for you and your organization?
How will you bring them to life?
What has to happen for you to succeed?

Instead of waiting for “someday” why not get started today?