BL 61: Do you have a BHAG?

Bold Leadership podcast

Do you have a BHAG? If not, you should. I know that we all love to talk about SMART GOALS

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Realistic
• Time bound

They are the rage, but you can never do anything BOLD with just SMART goals.

John F Kennedy set a goal to put a man on the moon...this is not a SMART Goal

ELON Musk set a goal to build a resuable rocket...at the time...not a SMART Goal

Elon Musk went so far as to fire over 400 employees who could not or would not meet the his expectation for development and production. He is focused on the impossible and he continues to surprise the world.

These Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs) push you to innovate. It pushes you to make BOLD decisions and forces you to set and maintain extremely high standards. I mean just think of all of the great things that have been developed because of the space race in the 60’s or all the innovation that has been driven by Elon Musk.

If you want to do great things, I mean spectacular things you have to dream big. Most leaders inherently limit themselves with SMART goals. There is certainly a place for SMART goals, but don’t limit yourself.

So how do you set ridiculous, amazing BHAGs

• Imagine the impossible...dream big
• Surround yourself with people who believe anything is possible
• Go to the whiteboard and start dreaming

Once you have your BHAG, leverage SMART goals to set a path to reach your dream. It's just that easy. Now if you don’t develop the path and periodically update you will never reach your goal. So be persistent.

I worked with a team to develop the 1st underground Compressed Natural Gas Storage System. Everyone told us it could not be done. Too many regulations, Too much red tape, everyone else who tried failed. Well we didn’t. We set the Big Hairy Audacious Goal and got to work. We did not listen to the naysayers. I can’t was not in our vocabulary. We found a way to yes. We developed a timeline and got to work. Now, I am not going to lie and say it was easy. It wasn’t. We made mistakes along the way and had to find innovative solutions to solve the challenges.

Here is what I know in my heart. If I can do this, then I know you can too. Never limit yourself, never let naysayers drag you down and never quit.

Be Bold!

Dave