I just finished a great interview with my new friend 
Maren Kate Donovan . She is an up and coming leader in the online marketing and social media industry. Below is the actual interview that we did. Enjoy….
MAREN: How’d you get started in online marketing?
MICHAEL: I started about 7 or 8 years ago doing Autosurfing and “get rich quick schemes.” I made a little money and lost a lot of money. It was a good learning experience for me.
MAREN: What kind of 9 to 5 job did you escape from?
MICHAEL: I have my undergrad in Sociology and my Masters in Health Care Administration. I was in the business side of health care for several years (hospice and long term care) and I got tired of Corporate America so I just quit. I am also a Sign Language Interpreter so after I quit my health care job I started my own business doing Sign Language interpreting. During that time I also started my online business with 5 other guys. We have rolled out 2 online marketing courses already and have some great plans for the rest of 2010.
Our company is called The Empowered Tribe. Our philosophy is that we can’t succeed in this business alone and we need to rely on each other for accountability, traffic generation, and special skill sets that each one of us bring to the table.
Together we have made tens of thousands of dollars in just a few short months and we have never met in person yet. That is the power of the internet! However, we will be meeting for the first time at the end of March in San Diego, CA and we will be doing a live event for people that are interested in learning how to monetize online. This will be a great time to network with industry leaders and we will be co-hosting a charity event with Raven Starre (http://mlmrealityshow.com).
MAREN: Break down the ways you monetize your blog or online business(es) and if you have other streams of passive income that you’d like to share please elaborate on them.
MICHAEL: There are several ways I monetize online. On my blog http://michaelfeil.com you will see tabs up towards the top. Let me discuss some of these tabs and how I monetize through them.
1. The first monetization tab is called “Featured” and this is where I highlight the network marketing company that I am involved with. People can come here and get all the necessary info they need in order to join my organization. The product I have is very unique and there is no other product out there like it. Plus the social media marketing and tribe building education that the person gets when they are in business with me is second to none!
2. The second monetization tab is my “Mentoring” tab. This tab discusses why it’s important to have a mentor and if someone is interesting in my mentoring services then they can purchase it right there on the page.
3. The third monetization tab is my “Live Events” tab. This talks about hiring me to come to your live event and speak on a variety of topics. It also explains how my business partners and I can come to your live event and do a whole social media / tribe building workshop. It’s a very great time and well worth the money! In fact we are doing one in San Diego, CA on March 26 – 28, 2010. You can find all the info at http://tribesyndicationrevolution.com.
4. The fourth monetization tab is my “Resources” tab. This tab lists several of the affiliate programs that I am linked up with. When someone buys from my affiliate link I will make a commission.
5. Right under the “Resources” tab is my “Facebook” tab. For a price I can build people a custom Facebook welcome page for their Fan Pages.
6. Right under the “Facebook” tab is my “Website Building” tab where I show people how they can easily build sales pages themselves through a product called XSite Pro. I have created a video tutorial series that goes along with the XSite Pro software and people can purchase my video tutorial series that will help them get the most of the XSite Pro software.
So those are six ways that I monetize just through my blog. I also monetize through the online marketing courses that I develop and teach. Depending on the time of year it is you can get more information on these courses at http://tribemastermindformula.com. If the class is closed you can opt-in to get information on when the next class is starting up.
MAREN: What would be your 3 top tips for budding internet marketers to take heed of?
MICHAEL: 1. This industry is not a get rich quick industry. I thought it was when I first started 8 years ago and lost a lot of money. Once I learned that I have to actually build a business I started to become successful.
2. Brand yourself, not your company. When you start to brand yourself people will see you as a leader in this industry and then they will start to follow you. Once they start to follow you can then start to take the conversation offline and get to know them on a more personal level and “interview” them to see what they are really looking for. Maybe you can help them by mentoring them, direct them to one of your affiliate products, introduce them to your network marketing company, doing a joint venture with them, etc. The important thing is getting to know them personally and creating that trust. Once the trust has been established the possibilities are endless.
3. Build your business through the Tribe Concept. I can do a whole 2 hour lecture on this but it basically means that you are to go out and find about 5 or 6 peoples that have the same goals and aspirations as you do and you meet a few times a week to syndicate each other’s VALUABLE (that’s the key word) material all over the social media sites to get back links and massive exposure to your website or blog. There are many different principles to this kind of marketing which again is too long to get into now, but believe me, it works!
MAREN: What is the single best action you’ve taken that has positively influenced your biz and life?
MICHAEL: To find and PAY an already successful mentor that helped me get to where I am today. I was struggling before I got help via a mentor, but when I broke down and paid someone that is already successful and did exactly what they told me to do I then started to make money online. Success didn’t come overnight. It was s stepping stone process and like I said, I followed every instruction to the “T” and I started to see results.
The second biggest thing I did was find a good group a guys to go into business with. We talk daily, have become best friends, hold each other accountable, and are actually making money online.
To sum things up I just want to say there is no overnight success. Everything takes time so don’t worry that you’re not making money yet. If you follow the right steps and principles you will start to see success. Get with a mentor to show you the RIGHT ropes, and then seek out a group of people that are like minded and have the same goals as you do. Then start working with them creating projects and joint ventures.
Thank you Maren for this interview and if anyone has any further questions about what I have talked about you can contact me at mike@michaelfeil.com or Skype me at michaelfeil.
Have a great day!
Please leave a comment and tell me what you think about this interview. I would love to hear your thoughts! Also, Please Tweet and Facebook Share while you’re at it!
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Tonto, the Lone Ranger’s sidekick, and the Lone Ranger were inseparable.
The Lone Ranger taught Tonto allof the “Lone Ranger Ways” which was to do everything by yourself and to remain unattached to all people.
Tonto got tired of riding into town, saving people, then riding back out of town and not getting to talk to anyone, establish any relationships, or ask for help when he really needs it.
Tonto came to the Lone Ranger one day and said in his broken English Indian voice, “Tonto used to many people helping out. Tonto want more than Lone Ranger and Tonto. Lone Ranger and Tonto can’t do all alone. Too many people to help, only two not enough.”
Well the Lone Ranger was used to doing everything his way and he has been doing it this way for very long time and he has no intention of changing.
Tonto had it with the Lone Ranger and his “Lone Way” of thinking and Tonto just snapped! Tonto scalped the Lone Ranger and went back to his Tribe where he could really be shine by working with a group of people that look out for each other and take care of each other.
Do you ever feel like you are building your business all alone? You could be a network marketer or an internet marketer and just feel that everything you do is done by you with no support from anyone. There is no one to make you accountable, no one to help you out when you’re stuck, no one to pick up some of your load, no one to bounce new ideas off of, and no one to help you market.
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While we’re trying to build our business and live our dreams there is another life that we need to live and that is the present. Here is my perspective on how you need to focus on your business, build your dream but not lose site of the present.
If you like this please tweet it and leave a comment. Then go tell someone you love them!
As we start this new year and new decade I wanted to share with you a very important message that will help you get out from where you are and take you to the forefront of your business. It is decisions like the one that you will make after watching this video that will give you a good direction as to where you want to go in 2010.
I hope this video inspires you and gets you thinking about putting together a great game plan for this year!
“TIME SENSITIVE: ‘Tribe Mastery Intensive’… For Those Of You Who Want To Leverage The Power Of The Tribe, Blogging, & Social Media To Syndicate Content And Gain Massive Exposure… You Won’t Want To Miss Out On This Opportunity To Learn From My Tribe…”
Many people celebrate Christmas for many reasons. Some say Christmas is about the gifts. Most of these people are probably pretty shallow and really have no value to give.
Some people say Christmas is about spreading love, happiness and joy. We don’t need a holiday to do that. We should be doing that everyday!
Some say Christmas is about spending time with the family, getting together with loved ones, and making memories. I would have to say, yes that is part of the reason. Christmas is great when you are with your loved ones, but for me Christmas is much more than that.
Here is the main reason why I and many other people around the world celebrate Christmas…
Matthew 1: 18-24
18This is how Jesus Christ was born. A young woman named Mary was engaged to Joseph from King David’s family. But before they were married, she learned that she was going to have a baby by God’s Holy Spirit. 19Joseph was a good man and did not want to embarrass Mary in front of everyone. So he decided to quietly call off the wedding. 20While Joseph was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, the baby that Mary will have is from the Holy Spirit. Go ahead and marry her.
21Then after her baby is born, name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22So the Lord’s promise came true, just as the prophet had said, 23″A virgin will have a baby boy, and he will be called Immanuel,” which means “God is with us.”
24After Joseph woke up, he and Mary were soon married, just as the Lord’s angel had told him to do. 25But they did not sleep together before her baby was born. Then Joseph named him Jesus.
Matthew 2: 1-12
1When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem 2and said, “Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” 3When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. 4Herod brought together the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses and asked them, “Where will the Messiah be born?”
5They told him, “He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote,
6′Bethlehem in the land of Judea,
you are very important
among the towns of Judea.
From your town
will come a leader,
who will be like a shepherd
for my people Israel.’ ”
7Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star. 8He told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, let me know. I want to go and worship him too.”
9The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10They were thrilled and excited to see the star.
11When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh [c] and gave them to him. 12Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road.
So this year when you’re with your family, spreading the love, and opening your gifts just remember that God gave us a very special gift many year ago in a little town called Bethlehem.
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!!
Seth Godin, in his book Tribes, talks about how to improve your Tribe. He gives some bullet points but I would like to expound on these thoughts for a minute.
The two requirements of a Tribe:
• A Shared Interest
• A Way to Communicate
There are all different kinds of Tribes out there…Dog Lovers Tribe, Mix Martial Arts Tribe, Habitat For Humanity Tribe, your church could be your Tribe, etc. Heck, I was on a business trip in NC a few years ago and in the hotel I stayed in was the National Taxidermists Society’s yearly convention!! That’s a Tribe if I ever saw one!
Well, since we are all really focused on Social Media I’ll explain how the two bullet points above relate to us. We have a shared interest in home based business and marketing on the internet through social media avenues. Our ways of communicating are through several different avenues such as Facebook, Email, Skype, Phone, YouTube, Twitter, Blogs, etc.
So that makes us a Tribe!
Within the Tribe communication can be done four different ways.
• Leader to Tribe
• Tribe to Leader
• Tribe Member to Tribe Member
• Tribe Member to Outsider
Let’s talk about each one of these and how the communication is done:
Leader to Tribe
It’s important for the leader to stay in constant communication with his / her Tribe. If you lead a Tribe you need to be constantly communicating the Tribe’s vision to the members so everyone stays motivated and educated.
One good way to do this is webinars that the leader may host. Some may be free but some require a fee. If the leader is putting out a solid vision and the content that is being taught is valuable and will empower the members then the fee will be well worth it.
Tribe to Leader
It’s always good for a Tribe members to communicate with their leader, but what’s more important is that the leader communicates back to the members. Here’s an example, the leader writes a blog post on their blog and the members start commenting. A good leader would respond to all the comments that were being made on his / her blog. This shows that the leader cares and wants to be engaged with his / her members. When a leader stops communicating with his / her members the members might find a new leader.
Tribe Member to Tribe Member
Tribe member to Tribe member is great because it helps create relationships and partnerships. One way this can be done is through social networking sites like the Ning Community. With this community established member can talk to each other, share content, and learn from each other. Many times partnerships or joint ventures can establish within the Tribe that would have never happened if the leader didn’t bring the community together and empower the members to communicate with each other.
Tribe Member to Outsider
This is great because it allows the Tribe member to be an advocate for the Tribe and promote the Tribe to other people. If the Tribe member does a good job at this the outsider may be interested in joining the Tribe which will increase the Tribe with another like minded member and that new member can do the same thing…tell another outsider about the Tribe and continue the momentum.
So as you can see there are many ways to communicate but the most important thing is to keep a steady stream of communication going. Great communication allows for a Great Tribe!
Please comment and retweet this if you like it!
Today is the final part of the Cycle of Achievement which comes to the most important part…Seeing Counsel. Many people are coming to me SEEKING COUNSEL about Social Media Marketing Tactics and Strategies.
Cycle Of Achievement
Experience is not the best teacher; other people’s experience is the best teacher. For this reason, leaders must find a credible mentor so they are not forced into a trial-and-error process.
Receiving mentorship may be done in person or on the phone with someone interested in sharing his or her wisdom. It may come from studying historical figures with relevance to the undertakings of the leader. It may come from studying the materials provided by a speaker or author who can provide wisdom and experience to a leader. Or it may come by subscribing to a autoresponder list like this one and receive educational emails that will help you grow and develop your skills. By far the best type of mentor is the one that is personally concerned and connected to you and willing to give you time and attention through face-to-face interaction, telephone calls, and emails. Such a mentor is priceless in the career of a leader.
I can call my mentor up anytime and say, “Hey, can we meet this week? I need to talk to you about some things, ideas, struggles I have having with my business, etc.” and he will make time for me. I am so lucky to have that kind of relationship with my mentor because I have tried other network marketing businesses and other investment projects, but because I didn’t have a mentor I was stuck and didn’t know what to do and lost money. Because I now have a mentor who is guiding me, I am making money in my business ventures.
Even when a leader is clear on objectives and implements a well-thought-out game plan, things can go awry. If a leader is going from point A to point B and goes off course a little bit and continues that off course path they will be very far from their goal by the time they stop their journey.
If the same leader has his or her mentor walk with them the mentor can make mid-course corrections when the leader is going off the correct path. By the end of the journey the leader will be able to make it to Point B because of the guidance from his or her mentor.
In the book, Launching A Leadership Revolution by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward, there are several reasons laid out as to why a leader seeks counsel from a mentor. Today I will discuss a few of those reasons.
A Leader Seek Counsel to Learn
Leaders know they always have more to learn. What can a leader learn from mentorship? On a personal level a leader can gain information, attitudes, perspectives, judgments, strategies, mind-sets, priorities, and objectives. On a business level a leader can learn a new system of marketing their home based business just like the techniques I went over with you for the past 8 days. However, this can never occur without humility on the part of the leader. A leader must humble himself before a mentor and agree to take counsel.
When a leader counsels with a mentor it is time to open up and honestly report results. If the results are lacking, leaders need to hold themselves accountable to their mentors for improvement. Now is not the time for the leader to impress his mentor. It is time for the leader to be held accountable for his actions so he can improve his leadership skills.
Mentors are not there to make leaders feel better or inflate their egos with unearned praise. Mentors rise above mere friendship and provide needed, straight-ahead guidance. At times this may be uncomfortable for a developing leader, but the price of discomfort with a mentor is much less than the price of discomfort that comes with mistakes in judgment or poor performance in the field.
A Leader Seeks Counsel to Receive Feedback
Just like a student receiving a report card, leaders obtain feedback on their performance. A mentor can provide a positive outlook, where a leader sees only his own failures. Sometimes we can be our own worst critics. Sometime we can be very hard on ourselves and only look at the negative things we do and not see all the good we are doing. Mentors show us the positive things we are doing so we can keep a good balance of what we are doing right and what we need to improve upon.
A mentor can also keep the developing leader’s head from “swelling” by shining a light on areas for further improvement. This is where it is a big help if goals have been set correctly and game plans are clear and will structured. Mentors can provide feedback on how well the leader is working according to priorities, on the mid-set and attitude of the leader, and on the leader’s progress toward the goals.
A Leader Seeks Counsel to Grow Personally
The overall goal of mentorship is to grow the leader. It is a fact of life for leaders that they have to get better. And they must commit to growing on a regular basis. Mentors are there to provide guidance and place a continued emphasis on personal growth.
A mentor must communicate with the leader constantly so that he / she knows that the leader is growing personally.
The leader must have the hunger inside them to reciprocate that communication so they know they are getting all they can from their mentor. It shouldn’t be the mentor’s job to keep tabs on the leader. It should be the leader seeking out the mentor. The mentor does need to make sure they set time aside for the leader to make sure that the leader is constantly growing.
A Leader Seeks Counsel to Earn Respect
To be respected by the respected is every leader’s desire. Money and fame and power and prestige may all have some charm, but here is nothing like earning the respect of someone who has been instrumental in teaching and guiding our own growth and success. Leaders know this about themselves and strive to earn the respect of their mentors. This is true because in our business when we earn the respect from our peers and really feel that we’ve people are learning from us, buying from us, and wanting to partner with us it makes us feel like we have really arrived and have received the respect that we’ve been working towards all this time.
I want to encourage you to partner up with a mentor if you don’t have one yet. This could be a mentor from your company or it could be someone that is not affiliated with your company but has the knowledge of how to market in the social media world and that will spend the proper time with you to help you and develop your skills so that you can go out there and improve and increase your business.
The Cycle of Achievement Summary
It is the interactive Cycle of Achievement loop that leaders deploy in their planned attack on status quo. Understanding each of the parts and using it as a road map allows leaders to improve their performance on a continuing basis. The Cycle of Achievement gives leaders one way to describe that improvement process and keeps them on track as they rotate the cycle over and over again. With every rotation, the leader improves, and betters himself.
We have been talking about the Cycle of Achievement from the #1 best selling book Launching A Leadership
Cycle Of Achievement
Revolution by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward. So far we have covered Goals and Game Plans, and today we are going to talk about what happens after we set our goals and have our game plans we need to do something or we will never reach our goals…and that is WORK!
According to Brady and Woodward when applied to a leader, the term working encompasses several categories. I am only going to cover a few of them today. You will need to get the book in order see all of the categories.
Working: Leading by Example
Abraham Lincoln said, “Example is not the main thing in influencing other people; it’s the only thing.” Leaders must set the example. Many seem to have the idea that a leader is someone with a position, or someone with the ability to talk a good game. But a ture leader sets the example with his or her action on a daily basis, period.
If you are a network marketer you need to lead your community by example or else you’re not going to have a big community to lead. You need to be doing or have done what you are teaching your community so they can see you are someone worthy of following.
Working: Demonstrating a Strong Work Ethic
There are no shortcuts to success. Leaders who search for a shortcut end up getting cut short. Sometimes those in a position of leadership want to shirk the grunt work and instead tell others what to do, but that is not true leadership. When a leader resorts to delegating because he is not willing to do it himself, he has reverted to managing instead of leading. True leadership is being willing to live down in the trenches where the action is and do whatever is necessary.
Peter Drucker said, “No leader is worth his salt who won’t set up chairs.” Don’t misunderstand what I am saying…a leader’s job is not to tackle the tasks and responsibilities of his subordinates. A leader must simply be wiling to, as there is not job below the leader.
The strong work ethic demonstrated by he leader energizes the organization and propels everyone forward.
Working: Taking Responsibility
Leaders take responsibility for their actions and for their decisions. Leaders are not always right and don’t always make the right decisions. Real leaders make decisions, and then they make those decisions right.
Al Kaltman says, “The successful leader gets superior performance from ordinary people.” That happens because the leader takes responsibility for those results. A leader does not make excuses. A leader does not place blame on others. A leader does not evade duty. Taking responsibility means holding oneself to a standard of results.
If leaders don’t like the outcomes, they make changes, taking full responsibility for implementing those changes. If something goes wrong, they take he blame. If something goes well, they share the credit.
There are a lot more working principles that are in the book but I think I will let your marinate on that for a while. Working is the most important one in the Cycle of Achievement because you can have good goals, your can have a great game plan but if you don’t work all that is worthless.
So go out there today and work your game plan so you can reach your goals! Let me know if I can help!
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If we continue to dissect the Cycle of Achievement from the #1 best selling book Launching A Leadership
Cycle Of Achievement
Revolution we’ll see that once we have our goals set we’ll need a Game Plan. So what is a game plan exactly? A game plan is a leader’s strategy or map that provides guidance towards the goal. If the Hunger provides the “why,” the Goal is the “what,” and the Game Plan is the “how.”
It is in the game plan phase that the leader develops the ability to think strategically, brainstorming on the methods of attack.
In the Movie Waterboy Henry Winkler plays coach Klein who got his playbook stolen by Coach Red Beaulieu. Before his playbook was stolen he was very successful and a great coach for a strong college football team; the University of Louisiana Cougars, but once his playbook was stolen he was lost, washed up, and got transferred to South Central Louisiana State University Mud Dogs that had a record of losing every game.
Coach Klein had a goal; to win a football game, but he didn’t have any direction or game plan so he went on for years losing…until he got his playbook back!
Here’s what you have to remember about goals and game plans; goals are set in stone and game plans are set in sand. The game plan must be fluid, adaptable to changing conditions, and able to be scrapped at a moment’s notice if it’s not working. Often it is necessary for a leader to develop multiple game plans over time before a goal can be reached.
Game plans change all the time. Think about Coach Klein’s playbook. It was a play BOOK not a play sheet with only one play in it. It has several plays in that book. Why is this? It is because some plans don’t always work and you need a plan “B” sometimes and you have to be flexible when your current plan doesn’t work so you can divert to your plan “B.”
One of the biggest advantages of a game plan is that it drives the process of setting priorities. A leader must think through and understand the question, what’s important next? Andy Stanley, author of The Next Generation Leader, wrote, “The ability to identify and focus on the few necessary things is a hallmark of great leadership.”
Game plans are best when effective thinking is first used. A leader’s quality of thinking will have much to do with that leader’s success. There is tremendous power in effectively thinking through a goal and how it might be attained.
One of the effective thinking processes is brainstorming which is the process where thinking is done in a freewheeling style, omitting any early judgments as to the merits of the ideas that result. Brainstorming is designed to pull all good ideas out of the head and into the game plan.
So now that we have our goal, have done some brainstorming to get our game plan or plans we are now ready to carry out our game plan and WORK which is what we’ll be discussing next.
If you have any help with trying to figure out your goals or game plans please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Also, If you like this post please Tweet it and leave a comment!
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Cycle Of Achievement
If you remember we are talking about the Cycle of Achievement from the best selling book Launching A leadership Revolution by Chris Brady and Orrin Woodward, and in that cycle we have talked about Vision. Today we are going to touch on Goal Setting.
Vision is good, but if you do not have your vision directed at something specific (a goal) then your vision will only be that…a vision. A leader must know the goal of his or her efforts. A leader must know clearly what is to be achieved. In short, leaders use the process of goal setting.
As Tom Garriga, president of Tang Wei Martial Arts Institute says, A goal is an enemy to be conquered with a battle strategy and the commitment of a warrier. The leadership process is founded on resolve and commitment.”
Here is what Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady say about goals…
“Goals Must Be Specific – Goals must be clear and exact. Examples of proper specific goals would be, “to publish 3 posts on my blog this week,” or “to make 2 videos and put them up on YouTube this week,” or “to sponsor 10 people in my business this month.”
Examples of goals that may not be specific enough are, “to become a better father,” or “to improve in leadership ability,” or “to maximize performance at work.” These are general feelings of what could be accomplished, but terms like “better father” or “improve ability” or “maximize” are not specific enough to trap the leader into performing. Loose terms like these provide “wiggle room” for the leader.
Being specific with goals not only gives the leader a clear target at which to shoot, but it also leaves no room for doubt as to whether the target was hit.
Goals Must Be Written – A goal is not a goal until the leader has written it down. As with goals that are not specific, goals not written down leave the leader room to maneuver if things don’t go as planned. But a written goal is hard to avoid.
Goals Must Be Set In Stone – The setting of a goal must be backed by commitment, or the whole process breaks down. Therefore, goals must be “set in stone.” Once decided upon goals should not be changed. As will be shown in “Game Planning,” it may be necessary to modify plans for how to attain a goal, but the goal itself must remain firm.
Goals Must Be Measurable – There must be a clear, quantifiable method to determine when the goal is accomplished. Can it be measured? How? How easily, and by whom? How quickly upon completion? These are the types of questions to answer when setting a goal to ensure that the leader knows when and how a goal is achieved. The ability to measure progress toward a goal also enables mid-course corrections and the ability for a leader to confront brutal reality concerning his or her progress. Again, goals for leaders must be clear and measurable.
Goals Must Be Realistic – Goals must be realistic enough that the leader believes them achievable and is energized to do whatever it takes to accomplish them. If the vision is big then there must be steps taken or mini goals set so that the leader does not become exasperated and give up on his or her goal.
Goals Must Provide Motivation – On one hand, goals must be realistic, but on the other, they must be enough to stretch to inspire the leader. The best way to set a goal is to make sure it is between the ditches of “too Enormous” on one side and “too easy” on the other. The leader must believe that he or she can accomplish the goal, while at the same time be uncomfortable at the increased level of performance required to do so.
Goals Must Be in Line With Priorities and Values – Every leader should take care when setting goals to ensure that the goal itself is not at cross-purposes with her core beliefs, not that what’s required to accomplish the goal compromises her honor.
Goals Must Be Prominent – The leader must develop systematic ways of regularly reminding himself of the goal. This can be done with signs or placards placed around the home or workplace or even in the car. A leader should devise methods of keeping the goal prevalent and in view until the goal is achieved. A goal forgotten is a goal dismissed.
Goals Must Have a Specific Time Period – Once a leader sets a specific goal, writes it down, commits to it, determines how to measure it, and makes sure that it is realistic and motivational and in line with priorities and values, and devises methods for making it prominent, it is crucial that an appropriate time limit be determined. If a goal is set without a time limit, it becomes noting more than a wish or fantasy. A time limit applies the final pressure on the leader, like a clock ticking during the running of a race.”
If you have a goal and go through each one of these points with your goal you will be able to see if the goal you have set is the right goal or if you need to alter your goal to make it more obtainable.
Today I would like you to take a good look at your goals, make sure you write them down and put in a place you can easily get to them and review from time to time, and then see if they need to be altered any.
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