This text is taken from the original draft manuscript of Influential Leadership: A Leader’s Guide to Getting Things Done and is provided here to enrich your learning on the Strategic Influencer Programme.
Besides building and protecting your motivation, it is also important to be aware of the diverse range of events that might happen which could seriously affect the pursuit of your purpose. Consideration of these now can enable you to be more proactive and reactive in the face of these events.
The severity can range from mildly frustrating to “show stopper” level. At the opposite end of the spectrum, other things can happen which can dramatically improve your prospects. Often, at first sight, they have only a minor connection with what you are engaged in. Being prepared for these, spotting them when they occur and responding to them well is an important part of maximising progress.
Ironically, those who get caught out here are often the people with the best execution skills. Their drive to get the result narrows their focus and they can easily lose awareness of what’s going on around their project, goal or purpose. They easily develop blind spots and miss warning signs because they are so committed (or sold) on the value of their result. So, it is prudent to stop from time to time to look at the risks you may be facing and the opportunities you could make more use of.
The level of detail you need to go into with this is dependent upon the size, scope, complexity and context of your chosen Leadership Purpose. The more complicated it is or the bigger its potential impact, the more time and effort need to be invested in considering the risks and opportunities. Even in the simplest of scenarios, I believe that it is worth taking ten minutes to quickly attend to this topic.
Strategic Risks
Take a few moments to brainstorm all of the key things that could go wrong around your purpose:
- What might happen in the wider organisation which could cause you problems?
- What crises could the organisation face in the foreseeable future?
- What critical resources could be withdrawn?
- Is there something that may change in relevant legislation that affect your purpose?
- Are there any significant technology considerations which may impede your progress?
- If your project wasn’t to proceed, what would quickly take its place?
- If you were the CEO, for what reasons might you kill your project?
- What could happen that would really damage your progress?
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Strategic Opportunities
Now spend some time considering the opposite; what are all the things that could happen which would really help your progress?
- What are all the big exciting projects going on or being contemplated in the organisation at the moment?
- Where is all the executive attention at the moment?
- If one thing were to happen to immediately make your purpose easier, what would it be?
- If I gave you one wish (related to your goal), what would it be?
- What event could happen which would really accelerate your progress?
Having thought about these risks and opportunities, ask yourself a hard question – are you still aiming for the right thing? The purpose of this question is not to try to dissuade you, but instead to pressure test your resolve and ambition. This also helps to clarify the challenges ahead which you will need to manage in order to make progress.
Colin Gautrey
Provocative Coach/Mentor | Specialism: Impact and Influence
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