This past weekend I got to spend time with a great group of teenage guys. We built a trip for them, and it was a great experience.
On Saturday we had the opportunity to fish and shoot skeet (clay pigeons). If I were to be completely honest, we shot skeet because it’s been a while since I’ve shot and I wanted to shoot, and we fished because the boys asked to go fishing.
Now, the last paragraph reveals something about me — I’m not a fisherman. My thoughts when planning the trip didn’t go to “It would be so much fun to fish” but instead “it would be so much fun to shoot skeet.”
When it comes to fishing, I don’t know what I’m doing. I can make some guesses. I can buy some fishing supplies, mostly on clearance because I like a good deal. But the bottom line is the one time I’ve ever taken my girls fishing and tried to figure it out, we caught a turtle with a turkey hot dog. Let that sink in.
Shooting skeet, on the other hand, is more in my wheel house. I know what it takes. I know what we need. I know who to ask. I have a good idea of how to set it up, because I have done it often. I know what my goal is, and I know how to achieve it.
Here’s your leadership principle – if you don’t know your goal, you don’t know how to achieve it.
I don’t know what bait to use to catch what type of fish.
I know which gun to use to shoot skeet.
If you are working and don’t have a goal in mind, then all the effort you’re putting in is wasted energy.
Even worse, if the people you are leading don’t know what your goal should be, then all the effort you’re putting in is wasted.
A clear vision/purpose/direction/goal allows you to create shared forward movement. When you get everyone on the same page moving forward, the progress you’re able to make will be beyond what you ever imagined.
But it doesn’t happen if you don’t even know what kind of fish you’re trying to catch.