Making big plans

Making big plans can be scary. There is a lot on the line and what if I fail, embarrass myself, get fired, go over budget……What is I succeed, get promoted, save the company, get taken out to lunch by my many new fans….It can go either way.

It’s baseball season and spring training camps are sprouting up across the south. They are making big plans to go all the way to the World Series. Or they are making big plans to rebuild so that in three years they can get to the World Series. There is a tremendous amount of planning, practice and more practice to try and make their plans work yet they all fail except for one team.

How much effort are we putting in to make sure our plans work out? Does every team member fully understand both their role and their part in the bigger picture? Is team member X simply ‘talking a good game’ or do they have the “right people in the right seats on the right bus” as Jim Collins says. As a leader, are you creating the culture, building commitment, contribution and the courage needed for team members to achieve?

A recent read is entitled: The Orange Revolution by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton. Based on a 350,000 person survey, the authors talk about how great teams can transform organizations. Key characteristics of successful teams are “their ability to set measurable goals, answer questions truthfully and directly, listen respectfully to others, be available to talk to team members, create an environment where employees felt free to express their views and where they accept and valued others’ ideas. “ This translates into role clarity. Does each member of the team understand how they fit into the big picture and how important their role is for success?

Great teams are all around us. Teams in sports, the arts, healthcare and business all bring their own unique variations on the idea of teams but there are similarities. Just as we see above in Gostick and Elton’s great team characteristics the best teams have these characteristics and one more, a charismatic leader. People will not go the extra mile for a leader who just shows up. Whether it’s a director of a play, the conductor of a symphony, a brilliant scientist or physician, a leader is one who influences and inspires others to achieve a vision bigger than themselves.

Leaders, some say, are in short supply right now. It’s a tough job and fraught with peril. Some would argue that we have not done a good job encouraging and creating leaders – content to focus on teams.

Put the focus on the leader to be a great leader – symphony conductors are an unnecessary expense if all they are doing is keeping time for the orchestra but if they are a great leader, if they inspire, if they take risks and if they have a plan, they are sought out world wide and paid handsomely for their leadership. As the listener and the viewer we move from simply being entertained to I want to stand on my chair and yell out “this was the best thing I have ever seen in my life.” A person with a big plan needs the work of a team to succeed. For the work of a team to succeed it needs a big plan and a leader who will lead. Both team members and team leaders deserve nothing less.

The Best-Half, is a proven breakthrough strategy that helps individuals think about and plan for an exciting and fulfilling future at any stage of the career journey. Part of the unique approach of the Best-Half methodology is helping participants discover and understand their natural abilities, strengths, possibilities and passions.

The Best-Half provides the processes to focus on situations like succession planning, and communicating future pursuits.    One of the most valuable aspects of the Best-Half approach is the encouragement of dialogue and sharing.

Working with their coach or within their workshop group, people see that many of the issues facing them are not unique; however the solutions are uniquely suited to them and their life. While coaching hundreds of individuals to discover their Best-Half, we have seen the creation of excitement for new opportunities, challenges and dreams while improving certainty, engagement and commitment leading to a renewed sense of purpose and direction.    An individual’s restlessness, concern and doubt about the future is transformed to a new sense of excitement and conscious action with the realization that their Best-Half starts today.