Begin with the end in mind.

I must confess, I am a Stephen Covey “raving fan!” Always have been.

Early in my career, I stumbled across his workbook and audiotape series entitled, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Leaders. Studying and practicing these seven principles admittedly developed in me a solid personal and professional foundation that I continue to leverage today.

His work has been called, “powerful lessons in personal change” and “timeless principles in fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity.”

Business owners and nonprofit administrators must continuously improve and renew their capabilities. They must be able to lead themselves, and influence, engage, and collaborate with others.

Stephen Covey’s seven principles or habits are at the heart of personal, team, and organizational effectiveness.

Today’s blog post is about one of my favorite core Habits (principles) for highly effective leaders. So, let us “begin with the end in mind.”

Are you spinning your wheels or struggling to make progress? Is your business or organization performing at sub-par levels? If so, it is my hope that this message may resonate with you.

Important Questions

• Why? (To me, this is one of the most powerful questions to keep asking.)
• What business are we in?
• Who else is in our niche?
• What is our purpose?
• Who is our audience?
• What is our message (and channels)?
• Why do we do what we do?
• How will we know when we are successful?
• Where might we make improvements?

You wouldn’t believe how seldom people pause, reflect, and ask themselves these kinds of questions. It is important to “take time to think” (TTT). Ask these questions and “begin with the end in mind…everywhere.”

Let me give you an example that is all too common.

I’ve worked with MarCom managers who invest a lot of money, time, and staff resources to design a beautiful new customer brochure. After many months, the brochure is done, looks great, is approved, and is sent out.

Now what? No one knows what to expect. No one knows what to track. No one ever stopped to “begin with the end in mind,” and ask WHY do we need a new brochure and WHAT is its purpose.

You are setting out to go on a road trip. Question: What is the first thing you should do? Answer: Maybe decide on where you’re going (destination) and why.

This goes for just about anything in life, especially for your organization. Before you can chart your course, you need to know what the end looks like…what success looks like for you.

Begin with the end in mind by asking yourself and your team key questions.

Sideroad: In business, it is called a Situational Analysis – mindset/heart-set, culture, vision, goal, strategy, structure, systems, and skills. Like a stone pyramid – aligned and balanced!

A clear vision of where you are going, and a detailed roadmap are critical if you desire transformational breakthroughs. Here are some more thoughts.

Clarity Breeds Focus

When you know what you're working towards, it is a lot easier to stay focused. You prioritize tasks and make decisions that align with your end goals.

Without clarity, you risk getting bogged down in day-to-day distractions. You might pursue opportunities that don't move the needle (ROI) and/or may take a lot of time, money, and effort.

Motivate and Inspire

A compelling, shared vision of the future is incredibly motivating - for you and your team. It gives everyone something to strive for. Something that goes beyond just making money or hitting targets.

When people know the big picture, they are engaged and heard, and they believe in something bigger than themselves, they are more likely to go above and beyond to make it a reality.

Strategic (Nimble) Decision-Making

Stephen Covey’s Habit #2, “Begin with the end in mind,” isn't just about setting lofty goals. It is also about creating a roadmap to monitor and hit your milestones and exceed your objectives.

If you think ahead and envision your desired outcome, you can reverse-engineer the steps on your journey. And you will be adaptable and make smarter, more strategic decisions along the way.

Alignment and Cohesion

Individuals will have different perspectives, priorities, and ideas. You want people to feel comfortable and give each of them a voice to share.

When you have a clear end goal, shared values, trust relationships, and a collaborative culture, it becomes much easier for most people to engage openly and keep an eye on the goal.

Do you have a North Star to guide you through the dark and raging seas? No matter where you are, even if you get off course, you can always reorient yourself towards your shared vision and plan.

Measure Success

How can you know if you're making progress? How will you know when you’ve arrived? How will you know when you are successful?

You have probably heard the mantra, what gets measured gets managed.

Along with your target and action plans, knowing your touchpoint metrics (KPIs) tells you where you are on your journey and gives you the power to make small changes to course correct as needed.

Like reading signposts and mile markers along your journey, monitoring and measuring lets you know you are heading in the right direction, where you are on the path, and how effective you are.

So, let us begin with the end in mind within your enterprise or organization!

Define Your Vision

What do you ultimately want to achieve? Have you done extensive market research? Have you benchmarked your competitors? Who can you partner with?

Who is your audience? What do you know about their interests, motivations, and purchasing behavior?

You want to positively impact your customers (donors), your community, and the world at large. Take time to conduct research and articulate a clear and compelling vision for your organization.

Set SMART Goals

Now that you have a clear vision in place for your business or organization, you can break it down into smaller, actionable goals with milestones.

Make sure your goals are SMART - specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. This will help you and your team stay focused and be accountable.

Develop a Strategic Plan

We’ve been sharing elements of a strategic plan throughout this post.

Now with your ultimate destination and goals in mind, it is time for you to decide on what you will do (strategies) and how you will do it (tactics). And create a detailed roadmap with action plans to carry out your mission.

Remember, planning is more important than the plan. Be sure to be inclusive and collaborative and invite all key stakeholders to participate.

You will want to end up with detailed action plans for accountability. Each will contain key initiatives, tasks, milestones, talent, timelines, and needed resources (money, people, technology).

80/20 everything! Use a matrix to identify both quick win and high impact/low effort projects.

Communicate and Reinforce

Make sure your organization’s stakeholders participate, understand, and whole-heartedly buy into your compelling vision and mission statements.

Communicate your vision and your organization’s shared values early and often. Integrate each into your culture and decision-making processes.

Have mechanisms in place so people can interact and communicate with you on their terms.

The more people feel connected and can see measurable results from their efforts, the more motivated and empowered they become. They become your tribe!

Remember, begin with the end in mind isn't just a one-time exercise—it's an ongoing practice.

Organizations evolve, circumstances change, and new competitors emerge. You need to be adaptable with speed and continuously improve.

Fellow leaders, I challenge you to ask yourself, What end in mind do I have for my organization? Are we on the right path to make our vision a reality?

Find out how Revenue Ready your organization is now. Start here.