Render Unto Caesar Of course, primary focus of every group must be on fulling purpose of organization. Most organizations don’t exist for purpose of making their members feel good. It is there to provide a product or service to its clients and customers. That being said, there is no reason it cannot be a platform for personal fulfillment of its employees while it is fulfilling its primary mission. If both of those things can be incorporated into equation, you will have happy workers and a very productive organization. Everyone has a part to play in this process, but it begins at top. Every leader sets tone for their followers. Begin, now, to create an atmosphere in your organization that allows both organization and individuals to “be all that they can be.”

Goals Level three of foundation is goals. Goals are “what” of operation. What is it that needs to be accomplished? When everything is finished, what has been done? Ultimately, goals are based on purpose. This is why it is very difficult to achieve a desired outcome without a clearly defined purpose. In establishing goals, there is a serious problem that many people run into. There are two different types of goals that it is possible to establish, and many people get these mixed up. If you establish wrong type of goal for your specific situation, you will not achieve your desired end. The first type is an outcome goal. This type is appropriate when you have a specific and measurable end that you want to achieve. You can typically put a cost and/or time limit on it. When you get to end you can point at it and say, “We did it!” But there is another type of goal that fits a different need - a process goal. Sometimes result you are looking for does not involve an outcome, but a process. Anything that involves growth and development needs this kind of goal. It is possible to become very best worker in your organization but still not be as good as you can be. It is possible to develop business to a very high level and still have room for improvement. It is very important to set process goals for development of processes (individually and organizationally) and to set outcome goals to accomplish specific outcomes.

Plans Plans are specific steps that are taken to carry out your goals and are fourth foundation stone for success. Plans are “when, where and how” of operation. And just as there are outcome and process goals, plans must be organized this way, as well. When you are trying to achieve a particular outcome, you have to have create very specific steps that lead to an ultimate conclusion. When you put last piece of puzzle in place, whole thing is finished. But when you are trying to achieve growth and development, you never see final end, you only see progress. As a result, you have to create plans that keep you moving forward. These are very different kinds of plans, so you have to be sure that you are not mixing two.

Tools The final foundation stone is proficiency with tools you will use to carry out your plans. We are speaking, here, of skills that allow you to perform tasks and to become kind of person who is capable of carrying out plans. All of preparation and strategizing in world will do you no good if you can’t carry them out. The tools are probably not what you think. They do not simply involve gaining proficiency in mechanics of doing your job. Rather, they are various facets of our personhood which allow us to grow and move forward. The first set of tools are our emotions. These skills involve learning to control our emotions so that we can be effective in our work no matter circumstances. No matter how competent you are in other areas, if you panic or fall apart under pressure you will not be effective in achieving outcomes you desire. The second set of tools relate to our body. We have to be physically capable of doing activities that are necessary to complete our tasks. It involves nutrition, rest and exercise as well as repetitive activity to become skillful at what we do. Tool set number three is brain activity. These skills involve acquiring knowledge as well as developing our brains so that we can be effective at focus, concentration perspective, outlook and mental quickness. The final set of tools relate to development of our spirit. This is part of our being that is self-aware, creative, communicative, makes choices, and does analysis. It is inner core of our personhood. It is possible to become more skillful in each of areas that involve our spirit. And to degree we do, we will become more effective.

This Is Only Beginning You will never move to higher and higher levels unless you take time to develop areas that relate to strategic planning. That being said, don’t ever let planning be an end in itself. No plan ever carried itself out. Planning is just that, a foundation. It is a foundation for how energy will be exerted and directed to accomplish an outcome. Don’t plan, or plan poorly, and you will certainly hinder your forward progress. But plan well and you have a great possibility to soar into future.