Back in the day when Tesco was sweeping all before it its then CEO Sir Terry Leahy talked about setting audacious goals – many of which the business delivered. I was reminded of this idea in a recent conversation with @GuillermoRogel who talked about asking people to consider for themselves what a ‘10 X bolder’ action would look like. And that got me thinking…
Are goals or objectives worthy of the moniker if they don’t stretch us? If we are simply setting a goal that we know we can achieve, that is obviously and easily within our gift and skill-set, is that useful?
Well yes. Of course. We are achieving. But did we learn, discover more about who we are and, crucially, have our capability and impact been elevated and to what end?
For leaders goal setting, for ourselves and others, is part of the territory. Likewise, we have a responsibility to make a positive difference through the decisions made and actions taken. Largely, though, these are confined to improving the lot of our organisation and particular groups of stakeholders.
Yet there’s a bigger need here – a need to make a positive difference in the world. To expand our view of stakeholders beyond the obvious groups in primary relationship with our organisation and to shape our goals, with purpose and intentionally in service of building a better world for all.
Such service demands that we become 10 X bolder in the goals we set and the actions we take. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals THE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development (un.org) set such a bold agenda.
If we were each to step into our courage and go 10 X bolder in service of that better world imagine what our goals and actions would look like and, more important, what a transformational difference it would make. Are you up for the challenge?