Where did I put my Rudder?

Where did I put my Rudder?

This is Application #2 for Creating Champions in the workplace, part of a series of blog articles with the overall theme of “When your staff succeeds, so do you.”

Application #2 -- Develop and Communicate Goals

"A man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder."
-Thomas Carlyle

Thomas Carlyle, born in 1795, was a Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher. Considered one of the most important social commentators of its time, he presented many lectures during his lifetime with certain acclaim in the Victorian era.

If Mr. Carlyle was lecturing today, his same words from 200 years ago would still apply today. [The only exception would be that instead of saying “man”, he would replace it with “human”. ]

There is no analogy more powerful. A ship without a rudder would be lost forever.
The same applies to humans.

Where is your own personal rudder? Do you know why you are here on this planet? Do you know your purpose? What gives you meaning in your life? If you need a good vehicle to determine your life purpose, visit www.coachingandleadership.com and click on Free Self Coaching. Once you are in, on the side bar, click on Life Spiritual Purpose. Chances are this profound exercise will change your life - in a good way. You will finally be grounded in a spirit-ual purpose which will become your rudder. During one coaching session, I listened as one of my Executive Coaching Clients became totally awakened when she said, “Betska, oh my God. I just realized that my #1 reason for being is ‘To be a student and teacher of leading from the heart first.’” This client had been leading from her logical self for most of her life and was failing miserably as a leader who engages people. Today, she is on track, happier and far more successful because she is leading from her heart first.

Where is your organization’s rudder? Have you created your own department’s MVGV: Mission and Vision statements, a set of Goals and a list of corporate Values which every one needs to follow in order to accomplish the Vision? Most organizations have these foundational elements from an overall corporate perspective; however, what I am referring to here is an MVGV for your own department or unit. For example, the Finance Department should have their own MVGV because their mandate is different than the mandate of Human Resources. Of course, this MVGV, must be aligned with the corporate one.

Whether we are speaking about your own personal rudder or the organization’s rudder, as the old saying goes,’ how can we get anywhere if we don’t know where we are going?’

We live in an unpredictable world with changes happening at the blink of an eye.

So how can we plan if changes are rampant and unpredictable?

“The great successful men of the world have
used their imagination...they think ahead and create their mental picture,
and then go to work
materializing that picture in all its details, filling in here,
adding a little there,
altering this a bit and that a bit, but
steadily building - steadily building.”
(Snippet for Social Media) - Robert Collier

Just as Collier states, we must draw the plan and frequently make adjustments to account for demographic and lifestyle changes.

The key is to keep the plan simple. Otherwise we can get overwhelmed.

In my next blog article, we’ll be discussing what Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, has to say about leadership. This incredibly gifted leader is a role model for both men and women in leadership today.

Tune in next time where we will explore the 7 Quick Planning Steps for SHAPING YOUR FUTURE!