LLML NUMBER 7
Because of the size of my lawn and the size of my lawn mower, I will always run out of gas about three fourths of my way through the job. Therefore, after I have filled the tank at the beginning of the job, I conveniently position the gas can at about the spot where I believe I will run out of gas. Sometimes my predictive powers are highly accurate and sometimes they are way off base. Much of this of course depends on the condition of the lawn and how fast I happen to push the mower. Depending on which way all that rolls, I enhance or detract from my lawn-mowing efficiency. This leads me to LLML (Leadership Lessons from Mowing the Lawn) Number 7:
Create realistic plans.
If I just tossed the gas can wherever it wants to land, then I will end up hiking a lot further when I need to retrieve it. However, careful realistic planning usually results in that gas can being in the right spot at the right time, for which I am always grateful.
That is exactly what we should be doing as leaders. We probably could not count the number of businesses that have run aground because its leaders did not plan realistically. They either did not believe the data or they refused to engage the people that could provide the data. To plan realistically, we must be in close communication with our key players so that we understand what is realistic and why. Our success will only be as good as our plans. LLML Number 7:
Create realistic plans.
