I was communicating with a volunteer for a non-profit and he shared that his goal for an upcoming fund-raising event was to break even.
Oof.
If I had hair, I would have started pulling it out. Small thinking drives me nuts.
But small thinking is not limited to the world of the community volunteer.
Companies and leaders can think small about the kind of culture they can create, the kind of results they can get, the kind of talent they can attract, the kind of leader/team they can be, the market position they can take, the kinds of margins they can make, the thought leadership they can produce, the speed with which they can move… the list goes on.
Small thinking can negatively affect:
- Excitement of the team (Who wants to jump out of bed and achieve the mediocre?)
- Confidence to make appropriate investments in systems and people (Think stepping over dollars to pick up dimes.)
- Quality of actions (Small goals tend to elicit small efforts.)
Don’t let small thinking affect your potential impact.
The most successful CEOs and leaders I know have big goals and proximate targets. They dream big with their teams and then break it down into digestible bits. They constantly look for ways to scale.
Think about what you would really like to achieve in your company or with your team.
Now try thinking 50% bigger. 100% bigger.
Whatever you have in mind could probably benefit from some bigger thinking. Bigger thinking will get you more excited. Your planned actions will have more impact. You will be closer to achieving your potential as a team and as a leader.
It is true that we live in a SMALL world, but that doesn’t mean we can’t play a BIG PART in it.
In what ways are you potentially thinking too small? What might happen if you gave yourself permission to think bigger?
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