May 14, 2010
Work the plan
Linking goals to action steps and schedules
By: Tom Gegax
Jim Pascale was just 27 when we hopped into my car and took off for Iowa. It was our first market outside Minnesota, and I’d just promoted Jim to Iowa regional manager.
Speeding out of Minneapolis and down I-35, I asked to see his schedule. Gripping the wheel with one hand, Jim grabbed his planner from the backseat and handed it over. I was a little shocked by what I saw.
“Do you have a copy of your goals with you?” I asked. Jim froze and shot me a deer-in-the-headlights look.
“Pull over,” I said. “I’m driving.”
Back on the interstate, I told Jim to write down everything he wanted to accomplish for the year, from career and financial goals to travel, health and relationships. He listed the categories and wrote things like, “Hit my bonus target,” “Pay off personal debt,” “Visit my parents in Chicago.” Then I told him to list the action steps they required. Finally, I asked him to set deadlines.
When Jim finished, I congratulated him, but cautioned that it was only the first step. I told him to rewrite his monthly schedule by finding homes on his calendar for what was personally important. Next, he added mandatory work meetings. Then he added other high-priority tasks and appointments.
“As I entered each item,” Jim recalled, “I began connecting the dots between my goals and my daily activities. To hit my personal financial goals, I had to hit my bonus targets. To hit my bonus, I had to fix up my stores and hire good people. It was obvious those things were related, but I hadn’t been working toward specific, measurable goals in such a step-by-step way.”
By the time we hit Iowa, I sensed something in Jim had shifted. In the months that followed, he was more purposeful and disciplined. Two years later, he was named vice president of franchise operations, and had doubled his salary.
Do what you’ve always done and you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. You can conquer the summit of any mountain — if you set your mission in motion with action plans.
Eloquent mission statements and lofty goals are a good start. But without deliberate deeds, they fade like yesterday’s paper. The last trace is a vague sense that you’d once been at the doorstep of something big. As Will Rogers said, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”
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