One of the key attributes of leadership is the ability to plan. In a professional organization, you can do better and feel comfortable only when there is a structured plan in place. A plan is a roadmap that any individual or organization has to follow to achieve the goals. On the other hand, the most common cause of failure is a lack of planning.
If you aspire to achieve your goals or to become a leader then you must know what is planning and understand its importance in leadership.
A good plan should be able to provide you answers to the following questions:
- What is my current position?
- What do I want to achieve?
- What steps do I need to take to achieve my goals?
What is my current position?
You need to ascertain your current position to measure your future progress. It is easier to determine the baseline for quantifiable things such as body weight, salary, etc. but it takes some critical thinking to understand your moral and social standing.
What do I want to achieve?
This question requires you to set goals. The goals could be about your physical or financial transformation or acquiring new skills and knowledge. Be bold and dare to dream because what is leadership without being ambitious and having a grand vision.
What steps will I take to get there?
This is the most thought-provoking of the three questions because the crux of planning is based on the steps you decide to achieve your goals or destination. Whatever you wish to accomplish, you need to know how you will get there, who all will be involved with the process and what specific resources you need to get there.
The answer to these questions will help you find a lot of positives. You will have a clearer idea of your goals and will feel motivated to move forward towards your goals.
Now, let’s take a look at the various benefits of planning that make it an absolutely important process for leaders.
- Planning helps in setting the right expectations:
A plan is a major communication tool as well. A detailed plan lets people know when to start, finish, and reach which stage. By creating a detailed plan, managers convey to their teams that they have analyzed the goal and the processes, and this helps in establishing their credibility and command among their resources.
- Planning is crucial for resource allocation:
It is not uncommon to see projects and tasks get delayed or turn out to be different from what was conceptualized. The reason for such a deviation is that either there are not adequate or the right resources deployed for the task. By carefully planning for the tasks, you would know what human and material resources you need to put in place to accomplish the goal.
- Planning ensures accountability:
In the absence of plans and timelines, work is likely to drag on until someone finally completes it. Good leaders who understand the importance of planning clearly outline roles and responsibilities as well as timelines. This makes people respect and have faith in the plan.
Respect makes people change their behaviour and they realize that completing the work is not an option, but it is finite and fixed to schedule. Clear expectations are laid out and penalties for missing deadlines iterated. The severity of the penalties or punishment is not of great importance, but the fact that there are such measures makes people accountable.
In simple terms, planning is the most effective and clear process to achieve any and every personal and professional goal! Now that you know the power of planning, go ahead and tap into the process to achieve your targets!
