As a Leader, What is Your "Primary Aim?"

Some years ago, Peter Drucker said,” One of the central challenges facing leaders today is that they are not taking the time to think the big thoughts.” I’m just returning from a three-day retreat at the Whidbey Institute (a lovely place to retreat) where my business partner and I were able to think all kinds of “big thoughts” about our business and where we are headed. It is daunting to lay down all of the “small” stuff for three days and tuck away out of cell phone and Internet range. But I believe it is critical to do so.

We had a road-map to follow on our retreat: a book by Michael Gerber called, “The E Myth Revisted.” Through his writing, he encouraged us to consider our “Primary Aim.” To get to this, we asked ourselves questions such as, “What do I wish my life to look like? What would I like to be able to say I truly know in my life, about my life? What would I like to be doing two years from now? Ten years from now? Twenty years from now?”

These “Big Thoughts” helped us to get very clear about what our business will be now and over the next five years. Surprisingly, I was able to identify what Michael calls my “Primary Aim”: to create a stable, happy family. I could see that I had chosen my line of work, consulting, out of my commitment to my children. I wanted to be available to them as much as possible during their growing up days. I had a home office for many years and later, an office very near to our home. My family has been a big part of all of the choices I’ve made as it regards my work.

This clarity is a relief to me – like a cool drink of water. Once I named what I most care about, I could see how I have been working with leaders of organizations to help them create happy, stable places for people to work. We have trained leaders across North America in the Power of Appreciation, Generous Listening, and Clean Communication. We have worked hard to support teams in working well together; all an extension of my Primary Aim.

We returned from our retreat inspired, engaged and ready to lead our small consulting business into the future. Our “business” retreat positively impacted my personal life as well – I returned so grateful for the opportunity to be a member of my family. And professionally, I am excited to share with our team what we have learned and imagined.

If you are a leader of a small or big business, I challenge you to “retreat” from the day-to-day and take the time to think the “big thoughts.”