CHAPTER 1
Knowing What You Want to Create
Business is a conversation focused on creating results.
Being successful in business begins in a conversation with ourselves first, andthen with others, focused on what we are passionate about creating, about thesolutions we want to bring alive, and the way we want to add value and serveothers. Successful professionals invite their teams, peers, and managers toalign their own individual goals and motivators to the rewards of the projectthey are engaged in. Wildly successful business leaders create conversationswith others by inspiring passion for the value and services they can deliverworking together.
Like most senior executives, Larry Page, the cofounder and CEO of Google, began2012 by sharing his goals for the company. He said, "Google is a large companynow, but we will achieve more, and do it faster, if we approach life with thepassion and soul of a start-up." He went on to outline six core areas of focusfor the upcoming year. If you worked for or with Google during that time, itwould be important that you understood these goals and how they affected whatyou were doing as an employee, team member, manager, leader, or even supplier.At Google, your ability to engage in conversations and demonstrate resultsaround these desired goals determines your success.
If you work for or with General Mills, you know that one of their most talked-about goals is to be among the most socially responsible food companies in theworld. General Mills says, "We continually set targets for bettering thenutritional profile of our foods, and we keep addressing social andenvironmental challenges." They made it clear that this is a conversation theywant to further, and people who are passionate about bettering the nutritionalprofile of food and who want to collaborate around this topic would be engagedworking with General Mills. To be successful in this organization, you have todemonstrate how your actions and results align with the company goals, no matterif you are a team member, peer, leader, or supplier.
Collaboration revolves around having meaningful conversations focused onachieving results with other people. Your role will determine what part you playin creating the vision. If you are the leader, you must clearly define and thencommunicate the outcomes you are committed to creating. If you report to aleader, understanding what the leadership team of the business you work for seesas important will enable you to link the business focus to your own goals inmeaningful ways. If you are a peer of someone who works in another department ordivision of the same company, it will be important for you to understand theresults other teams are expected to produce. Fully engaging leaders, peers, andteam members evolve as a result of having a shared purpose.
To have engaging, meaningful conversations with others, you'll need to know whatmotivates you and how you prefer to communicate. You will need to clarify yourown goals before you communicate them effectively to others. People who knowthemselves well focus on the question, "What do I want to create?"
As an executive coach, when I begin working with a new client I ask, "What doyou really want to create now? And why?" I also explain that, if you do not knowthe answer to those questions, you are likely to be working and living someoneelse's agenda for your career and life. Investing in yourself or paying yourselffirst is not a new idea in business—it is how wildly wealthy people andbusinesses became what they are. When you have a clear and compelling vision forwhat you want to create, you are investing in yourself and your future. Then youwill be able to make a greater contribution to a business or team, and be abetter leader.
I encourage my coaching clients to create their own "That's for Me!" lists. Hereis how you can do this too: Go to a place you enjoy, where you can relax andfeel great. Design on paper what you want your business and life to include andwho you want to be. Make a list of 100 experiences, things, opportunities, andconversations you want to have, and places you want to go. Include the ways inwhich you want to serve other people in your work. How do you want to add value?Also include the people you want to meet. Whom do you want to support, guide,and mentor? Identify the story you want to be known for, and put that on yourlist too. As you construct this list, you begin to own your agenda and gainclarity about what you want to create in your life and your work. By developingthis list over time, you begin to see what will motivate and inspire you, sothat you can be passionate about your work. Have you noticed that the people whoare star performers are usually passionate about their whole lives? That is whyI'm suggesting as your first assignment that you focus your "That's for Me!"list on your business and personal life, because successful people haveintegrated the two together.
Almost every time I give this exercise to people who have never done it before,they say something like, "I can't come up with 100. I have 20 and I'd be happywith those." To which I reply: "I asked you to identify at least 100, and youare making your life smaller. You are choosing a glass ceiling for yourself. Whywould you want to do that?" Push yourself through this activity, and you willsee amazing things begin to happen that you cannot imagine now. You will havemore clarity about what you want and what inspires you to take action.
As we work together over several months I frequently share this reminder: Onceyou have created your list, begin to read it regularly. Keep adding to it as youcome across things you are passionate about. Make sure all the results you wantto create in your business are on your list. Many of my coaching clients readtheir lists every day as they are learning to think in new ways and to focus onresults that align with their agendas. I read my own list at least once per weekto stay focused on the priorities that are most important to me. Amazing thingsbegin to happen when you focus on your goals...
