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Nigel Buxton Update
| How far do you want to go? |
August 2005 |
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Dear Nigel,
You can be anything that you want! – Or can
you?
Has anyone ever told you that you can be anything
that you want to be? Skeptical? What do you
say: "I could never make it (to be what I want to
be)", or do you take little steps to get as close as
you can (to being what you want to be)?
Everyone wanting to be CEO of General Electric,
please join the (long) queue on the right.
When we set ourselves goals we should remember
there are goals and goals: there is a distinction to be
made.
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It is winning which counts; or is it playing your best?
There is an end goal which says I will be
first in the race – I will be the leading actor in the
Broadway production of Monty Python's Holy Grail
next year – or, I will be CEO of General Electric. Such
goals have some interesting characteristics.
Firstly, the goal-setter does not have decision-
making power regarding the result (and may not even
know all the aspects that are in play) - who is
chosen for the job. Secondly, he does not have
control over the elements involved in
creating the outcome - the form of the others in the
race. And lastly it is demoralizing when an end goal
does not work out as you desired, and it will require
effort to build up energy to set a
new goal.
Another type of goal is the performance
goal: in this case the goal-setter sets out to
reach a certain level of performance – I will finish the
1,500 metres race on Saturday in less than 3 minutes
30 seconds – I will finish writing my book by
Decmeber 31, 2005 – I will increase productivity by
10 % in the next quarter.
A performance goal will be more within your control,
as a result it will be easier to commit to and to take
responsibility for. So if you do not win the race, but
you put in a personal best (improving on your
previous best time by more than 2 seconds), you can
still congratulate yourself.
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And of course juicy goals!
If you have an end goal, is it worth attaching a
performance goal to it?
Your goals are, of course, going to be specific,
measurable, achievable, realistic and time sensitive
(SMART); but most important of all - are your
goals going to get your juices flowing and ignite
action?
For the people in the long queue (the one for the job
of CEO of General Electric) another question is
especially pertinent: "How much are you willing to
invest in the activity in order to achieve your
goal?"
Realizing your full potential is a question of planning
your right-sized steps to become more the person
you want to be. And of course – ACTION.
What are you doing to be the person you want
to be?
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I am off to enjoy some sea and sun, so there will be
no Nigel Buxton Update for the next two weeks.
If you are going on holiday too: Happy Holidays.
I work with people in business who want to do more
with less – to make a greater contribution with less
effort – to be more themselves with less holding
them back.
Hope you enjoy this update, please do share it with
your friends and colleagues, just click "Forward email"
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Kind regards,
nigel
phone:
(+386)-031-674-924: (+386)-01-420-1524
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