You can set goals and pursue your dreams diligently. But forces out of your control can derail your progress.
Then what? When unpredictable events stymie your efforts, you have a choice. You can abandon your goals, stick with them or adjust them to fit the new reality.
The risk of jettisoning your goals entirely is that you might use external events as an excuse to wiggle out of your commitment. It's easy to say, "Given what's happening, I'll rethink everything."
Modifying your goals in the face of fresh obstacles often works well. You can still hold yourself accountable after tweaking your objectives.
"Leadership is about delivering outcomes, not sticking to a plan," said Shelley Huff, former chief executive of Serta Simmons Bedding. "Uncertainty isn't good for business, and in this environment it warrants reevaluating and modifying your goals."
If you set goals awhile back, adhering to them at all costs during these uncertain times can leave you boxed in. Such inflexibility limits your options in a chaotic world.
To maintain your goal-driven focus, stay attuned to what matters most. How can you continue to make progress when grappling with a fast-changing landscape?
Renew Your Mission After You Set Goals
When events on the ground threaten to tear your goals asunder, remind yourself why you set those goals in the first place. What was your intent? What motivated you?
"External factors can change your 'how' but not your 'why,'" Huff said. As long as the initial rationale for your goals is still valid, recommit to your mission but reconsider how you fulfill it.
Test Your Assumptions
Goal-setters operate on a set of assumptions. Turbulence — whether caused by war, market volatility or other upheavals — can uproot those assumptions.
"When fundamental assumptions no longer hold true about how you're operating," resetting your goals can help, Huff says.
Say you assumed that the supply chain would remain intact for the foreseeable future. If a sudden and severe shortage of raw materials occurs, you might need to adjust your production or sales goals.
Adopt An Alchemist Mindset
If you're too locked into your goals, the pressure to stick with them can prove overwhelming. It doesn't pay to be stubborn when powerful external forces crash all around you.
"As leaders, you want to look for folks with an alchemist mindset" to help you withstand such forces, Huff says. Surround yourself with colleagues and advisors who exhibit resilience and embrace a world with myriad unknowns.
"It's the ability to see through to the other side amid multiple challenges and obstacles," she said.
Solicit Input When You Set Goals
When deciding how to manage your goals in a fast-changing environment, welcome wide-ranging viewpoints. Don't reside in a vacuum where you only seek information that reinforces your biases.
"Be more inclusive and have subject-matter experts in the room," Huff said.
Digest Bad News To Set Goals
When adverse events derail your progress, you can't control them. But you can control your emotions.
Rather than lament your misfortune, think strategically and look for opportunities. Keep an open mind and digest bad news calmly and analytically.
"Be more sensitive to what's happening on the fringe of your comfort zone," said Gino Cattani, a professor of management and organizations at New York University's Stern School of Business. "Broaden your perspective. Venture into areas where you don't feel comfortable."
Explain Your Reasoning
As an exercise, make an argument for abandoning your goal, tweaking it or sticking with it. Then ask yourself, "Which rationale sounds best?"
"You may need to communicate the logic of what you're doing to stakeholders," so articulating each option and judging which makes the most sense can help, Cattani says.
