When it comes to goals, Tony Robbins says that most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year, and underestimate what they can accomplish in 10 years. When you look back on 2016, did you accomplish all you set out to do? If so, congratulations! For the rest of us, I’d like to offer a perspective about how to make next year your best one yet.

Whether you are setting goals as a leader in your organization, or more personal in nature, there is one mistake most people make: they set too many. Most organizations create way too many strategic goals or “priorities” and end the year having half-fulfilled a bunch of intentions that didn’t make the impact they desired in the business.  It’s hard enough to harness a whole organization of people around one goal, let alone 15 or 20. And we all know that one strategic goal probably involves 10 projects to complete. Employees become confused because they are so many “priorities” they don’t know where to focus. And focus is essential for achieving results. As Jim Collins said in his book, Good to Great, “If you have more than three priorities, you have no priorities.”

So how do you utilize the power of focus? First, you must have clarity. The entire organization needs to be clear about what they are working toward. As a leader, you must communicate over, and over, and over again to reinforce the message and goals you are working toward. Only then will you harness the power of a collective group of people who make things happen and get results.

 

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