Family Business Strategic Plan Checklist
Yes/No
1. Have I listed the emerging opportunities in my industry? --- ---
2. Have I listed the environmental threats to my firm? --- ---
3. Have I listed the internal strengths of my firm? --- ---
4. Have I listed the internal weaknesses of my firm? --- ---
5. Have my family and I listed our personal goals and objectives? ---
---
6. Do I have a mission statement? --- ---
7. Have I listed goals (objectives) for the firm? --- ---
8. Are the objectives for my firm in line with my family's
personal goals? --- ---
9. Are the objectives for my firm in line with the analysis of my
firm's strengths and weaknesses? --- ---
10. Have I written a strategy to meet my objectives? --- ---
11. Are my actions
- manageable (one year or less)? --- ---
- accountable (someone is responsible)? --- ---
- reasonable? --- ---
Food For Thought
You cannot truly have
something new without letting go of the old. A new job requires you to
resign from your old one. A new house means that you must move out of
your old one. A new version of your word processing software creates
files that can't be opened by the old version.
The easy, comfortable way is to stay with what we know. But with the
world changing so rapidly, staying put is a luxury that few can
afford. Life is an exciting journey, and to execute a journey, one
must travel to new places.
If you are not moving forward, you are falling behind. What new things
can you learn today? How can you improve the way you do your work? How
can you do things faster, with more accuracy, and at less cost? All
over the world, people are asking themselves these questions, and many
are discovering the answers.
To embrace the new, you must "lose sight of the shore." That means
opening your mind, and losing your attachment to the old way of doing
things. Don't take comfort in your routine. Instead, have confidence
in your ability to adapt to, and take advantage of, new concepts and
ideas.
True, meaningful commitment to anything is not something that happens
just once. It happens over and over again. You will constantly be
called upon to choose one action over another, and each time you do
so, you will be renewing your commitment.
When you are fully committed to achieving your dream, many
opportunities will come, as if by magic. And so will obstacles. The
opportunities are great. And the obstacles are just as important. They
will help you to become the person you need to be, to achieve your
dream. You must grow. You must get out of your comfort zone. The
obstacles and challenges give you a way to do that.
Learn to appreciate the obstacles for what they are -- opportunity in
disguise. They will teach you, prepare you and help you to grow.
The interesting thing about fear is that it should not be feared. Fear
can be a very useful and powerful tool. It gives us extra energy in
new and unfamiliar situations. It sharpens our senses. It helps us to
focus. It helps us to avoid legitimately dangerous situations.
The problem with fear comes when we begin to fear being afraid. Fear
of fear. For example, imagine that your have "stage fright" -- the
fear of speaking in front of a large audience. This is probably one of
the most common fears. Now suppose you find yourself in front of a
large audience, and suddenly a fear overcomes you. What is that fear?
Are you afraid of the audience? No, you're afraid of your fear. Carry
it a step further. Imagine that you turn down a good job offer because
it might involve some public speaking. Do you fear the job? No. Do you
fear the public speaking. No. You fear the fear of the fear. Wow --
fear can get very deep when we're afraid of it.
The best way to overcome fear is to do the thing you fear. And the
best way to do that is to accept your fear as something positive and
useful. Use the heightened energy and awareness your fear gives you to
help you through the feared situation. That's what the fear is there
for -- to help you cope with the thing you fear. Don't fear your fear.
Use it for growth and accomplishment.
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