12 weeks to accelerate your career: Start with the end in mind

This LinkedIn post generated a lot of interest.

Let’s break down each habit to create a practical 12-week plan to boost your career. With concrete tools you can use right away.

We start today with the first habit: “Start with the end in mind”.

Urgency is killing us

The business world is bombarding us with emergencies.

• Tight deadlines.
• Relentless quarterly targets.
• Crises to manage all the time.

This constant urgency creates toxic stress.

• It kills our creativity.
• It demotivates our colleagues.
• It prevents us from concentrating on the essentials.

An alternative way to find meaning and inspire the people around us:

Start with the end in mind

The concept is simple but nuanced. Easy to understand, difficult to apply.

The aim of this series of 12 posts is to help you move from theory to practice.

4 examples to master: “Start with the end in mind.”

1. Inspire your colleagues with your projects

“Vision” often reminds us of the CEO’s strategic speech, with its cold and demotivating jargon.

But you don’t have to be a CEO to inspire those around you with a clear vision.

Let’s take a not-so-sexy example: you’re launching a new IT project (ERP/CRM). The whole company has to adapt. New processes, new methods.

In general, we hear: the company will win X, reduce Y, conquer new markets…

For your teams, it means more work, more errors, more problems.

Create meaning for yourself and the people around you.

Turn corporate interest into customer benefits and connect them with compelling stories.

And above all, answer the question that everyone is secretly asking.

“What’s in it for me?”

The success of this transformation is a key skill for your internal or external progression. You’re not implementing a project, you’re creating new options for your career.

• You’ll learn how to manage a complex project.
• You master a new tool used by the largest companies.
• You gain visibility with other stakeholders.
• You work on a strategic project, under the watchful eye of management…

Make your projects a source of inspiration by showing your colleagues what’s in it for them.

2. Take a Step Back in a Crisis

Crises are an opportunity to practice “starting with the end in mind”.
And that’s what the people around you need.

Remember the big picture and help your teams refocus.

Ask:

• “What are we really trying to achieve here?”
• “Let’s take five minutes to reconnect with the bigger picture before we continue.”

3. Coaching your teams with the vision

In this constant pressure, everyone has their moment of weakness.

That moment when we lose our direction, when we doubt ourselves, when we get discouraged.

Use “Start with the end in mind” to motivate.

Don’t tell them directly what to do; help them find it by coaching them.

Use the G.R.O.W. model as a guide.

• G (Goal): What is your goal?
• R (Reality): How far have you got?
• O (Obstacles/Options) : What obstacles? Which options?
• W (What’s next): What’s next?

4. Don’t forget your own vision

One of the main mistakes you can make is to forget yourself completely.

A shortcut to point 3, applied to yourself: loss of motivation, feeling of drifting.

You are your own CEO for your career.

Imagine your ideal career in 5, 10 or 20 years.

• What roles do you play?
• What impact do you have?
• How are you feeling?

The story of Nolan D. Archibald

If your goal is to become Managing Director, every project should be an opportunity to develop the skills needed for this role.

“What are the experiences and issues I need to learn about and master so that someone emerges who is ready and able to become a successful CEO?”

That’s the question Nolan Archibald asked himself when he was still a student. It guided him in his choices and helped him become the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company and hold that position for 24 years.

Take action today

For a project :

• Now: Link an inspiring story to one of your projects and make sure you answer the question your people are asking “what’s interesting for me in this project’. Use it to motivate your team and communicate your vision.
• Medium-term: Create a library of stories to illustrate your vision for each project. Inspiration is a dish best served hot. Every time you have an idea, write it down.

For your career :

• Now: Answer the questions in point 4. Identify your first action.
• Medium-term: Create one learning project per quarter to master the skills you need for the next job you want.

See you soon.
Dror

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