Domestic Issue:
You don't have a plan. You're not on the same page. Your decisions aren't guided by anything. In other words - you're coasting through life, reacting, rather than pro-acting. You face disagreements and frustrations with a sense of hopelessness and anger. You can't make big decisions easily because you don't know what the end goal is. You flounder around and nothing seems to flow together.
Corporate Strategy:
Companies spend significant time and energy in strategic planning every year to avoid floundering. Even if the 30 page document sits on a shelf after it's written, it was still written. Some thought has gone into the future, and that can make a huge difference.
The most successful companies have an underlying strategy, upon which most decisions and steps are taken. Whether it's to be the #1 performer in thier market or the best employer around, a company will take purposeful steps toward this goal or base the steps they must take on whether it will achieve the goal.
Strategic planning can run the gambit of day-long corporate retreats or living goals that are discussed during every weekly update. It really depends on how focused the company needs to be to reach thier goals.
Goals are huge. How can a company, usually made up of a diverse group of people, achieve anything if they don't know why they are there?
Domestic Bliss:
If we have a personal strategy and goals for ourselves, and our families, we will feel more secure in the steps we take and the decisions we make. It is important for the entire family to get in on the strategic plan - just as it is corporately.
Sit down with your spouse (Executive Leadership) and talk about where you see your family in the next year, 5 years, 10 years, when the kids have moved out and you're on your own again.
Talk about your vision for your lives. Do you want to be in different jobs? A different house? Do you want to buy that RV/cottage/4-wheeler? Do you want to be able to take more vacations? Do you want to spend more time at church? Volunteering? Does one of you want to start a business, shift careers? Do you want to grow the next Tiger Woods? Do you need to invest more time in your kids? Do you want to institute family dinners and a weekly family movie night? What do you want life to look like?
Get on the same page.
Now, what would you have to do to achieve these things? Are they realistic? Can you accomplish your goals? If you don't know - what do you need to learn, research, analyze to do it? What kinds of professional resources do you need to find? Who, in your family, needs to be involved?
Once you set your goals and talk about some strategies, take it to your company.
Sit down with your kids and extended family, if necesary, and discuss your goals. Get everyone on the same page. If you want to grow closer as a family and set some time aside each week to do that, talk about it.
Establish buy-in from all levels of your family organization.
If you want to start saving for the cottage and that means moving out of your current house and into something smaller, talk about it and get on the same page. It will mean more to everyone if there is buy-in, not just directive.
If you want to start your own business, but know it's going to take a couple of hours in the evening every week and that means you can't attend every ball game...talk about it. Make the decision together and discuss the potential outcomes.
If you want your children to learn the value of giving to others, talk about setting a monthly appointment to volunteer somewhere together.
If you want to spend more time relaxing on weekends, set some chores and goals for each family member to take up some slack so the entire family can take advantage of it. Rather than announcing a chore list, this establishes buy-in and gives everyone a reason to participate without grief (ok, maybe there will be a little grief) but at least you've told them why.
When everyone is on the same page - and sharing a long-term vision - it can change all reactions and responses for the long-term. You also might be building some pretty good leadership skills along the way.
Getting on the same page can be very simple.
Here is an example: I live in Wisconsin. Summer is short. My husband and I have decided that summer is meant to be enjoyed and lived in and if that means that we regularly find underwear from a laundry basket rather than a drawer or forego washing the kitchen floor for a visit to the shore of Lake Michigan - then we do that. We're on the same page.
No one in my family complains about the pile of fishing poles in the corner of the foyer or the stack of beach towels that is placed in the back of my car directly from the dryer. No one gripes about going straight to bed with lake-washed hair rather than a shower-clean rinse every now and then. We have decided, together, that summer is too short and we can clean out closets, put laundry away and scrub the floors in October when the wind starts to blow.
A longer term example helps me through a lot of tough times. My husband and I work hard. We both work full-time, and he is a Funeral Director. Funeral Direction is one of the oldest small-business industries in the world. It is full-time+ and he is on call all of the time! I am on-duty most of the time and am sometimes as close to being a single-mom as I can be while being married!
But we know that when he retires, we're going to be in great shape financially. We also know that when our children are grown (since they are a super-handful right now) that it's just going to be us!
So, here is our page: When our children are grown and we retire, we're going to buy an RV and drive motorcycles all over the country. We'll be home for holidays and maintain our traditions (that's another post), but we're going to share the things that we love and love about each other.
Having this long term goal - and knowing that we're in it together - sure sees us through some hard times. It also makes it worthwhile to turn down expensive purchases, be a little more frugal or stay away from properties and ideas that would strap us down in the long run.
It also reminds me why I married and love this man. It is a consistent thing that we can both look toward, dream about together and plan for. It is something that has been there since we met and before the kids took over the house. But it's still there - and that's important.
Final Word:
Set some goals. Design a mission and a vision for your family. Strategize big decisions and plan for them.
DO get everyone on the same page. You'd be amazed how everyone will work on and toward the goals on that page when they know about it.
DO set up roles for every "associate" to achieve goals. (That's another post too).
DO dream.
DON'T limit yourself by living only in the moment - though that's important.
DON'T only react. Be pro-active. Take purposeful steps based on something. Feel how good that feels!
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