The Accountability Guy®
When you set your goals to achieve accountability and ensure you achieve them, you mostly try to set attainable goals. It’s necessary you set SMART goals. These are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound goals. However, some goals are exceptional. Ever wondered what these are?
Fret not; this blog will tell you all about the exceptions. These exceptions are the Big Hairy Audacious Goals. Coined by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras, BHAG is an inspirational and long-term goal that an organization can aspire to.
This blog will tell what BHAG is, how to set it and why it is useful. So, read on.
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BHAG is Big Hairy Audacious Goals. They are a strategic intention. These are goals that the company hopes to achieve in 10-30 years. These goals are inspirational and require meticulous planning to achieve.
In an organization, a Big Hairy Audacious Goal could be that the company wishes to have 15 branches worldwide within ten years. So, every individual needs to align their work goals with that BHAG and work accordingly. Senior people in the company need to develop a detailed plan to ensure the dream can be a reality.
Big Hairy Audacious Goals can be achieved by setting smaller SMART goals to ensure your dream can be achieved.
Setting a BHAG is simple. You must follow the SMART goal tactic to ensure even your BHAG is specific, measurable, relevant and time-bound. Additionally, a BHAG has some key elements that make it a big hairy audacious goal, so here are those key elements.
Big Hairy Audacious Goals are meant to be inspirational. A lot of the time, they are aspirational goals. These goals must motivate people in the company to strive to achieve the impossible. Plus, it motivates people at all levels.
Setting inspirational goals is essential because it gives something to strive for. Plus, it makes you accountable for the long-term goal. You’ll ensure you plan practical SMART goals for the short term to ensure you reach your inspirational goal.
An inspiration is what will drive your organization’s workforce to push themselves and work hard. It’s what will increase accountability, productivity, and action.
Setting and achieving BHAG might not be as simple as setting a short-term goal. However, it is within the realm of possibility. It’s doable. Your BHAG merely needs to be authentic and genuine. Plus, it must be relevant to the company.
Never set a BHAG based on ego and individualistic inspirations. You’ll only demotivate your team and lose their support. However, when you set a real, authentic, and inspirational BHAG, you can always motivate your team to play their best game. You’ll be able to ensure everyone in the company feels accountable, inspired, and motivated when your BHAG is authentic.
Your BHAG must be aligned with the company’s overall strategy. It must match the company’s values, purpose, vision, and mission. Only when the BHAG is aligned will it seem authentic and inspirational. Plus, it will be more relevant when aligned with the organizational purpose and values.
So, ensure you set big hairy audacious goals that align with the company’s current strategy.
A Big Hairy Audacious Goal needs to be consistent. The long-term efficacy of BHAG diminishes if you keep changing the BHAG every few years. It’s imperative that you decide your BHAG initially and lock it in concrete at the beginning.
Setting a BHAG large enough will motivate, inspire, and encourage teams to commit significantly for decades. Plus, a BHAG will ensure your team is focused and gives extraordinary effort to deliver on the goals.
So, ensure your BHAG is consistent and remains constant for the long term.
The BHAG shouldn’t be restricted to the top management levels. It must be shared across all levels in the organization. Plus, it must be shared with an accountability coach or mentor. Such a person can ensure you set the right BHAG for your company. Plus, they’ll ensure you work towards achieving the goal.
When you share the BHAG amongst the entire organization, it motivates everyone and ensures they know what their goal is.
BHAG is helpful to communicate a direction and level of ambition that will unite and focus the entire company. Plus, BHAG is beneficial as it sets the tone of the organization. Everyone from the top management level to employees of the organization must show commitment to the BHAG to ensure the ambition levels are aligned.
BHAG shouldn’t be forced artificially; it will come to you and align with your organizational values and purpose naturally. So, BHAG is useful when you want to inspire and motivate your organization towards a shared goal.
Setting BHAG is vital to amp the ambition level of the organization. If you’re in doubt of how to develop a Big Hairy Audacious Goals, consult an accountability coach like Tickthoseboxes. They will guide you in setting BHAG and ensure you achieve them.
Darren Finkelstein is The Accountability Guy®. This involves being an International Accountability Coach, Business Advisor, Mentor, Author, and Speaker.
Darren works with high-performing teams and individuals across Australia/NZ, UK, USA, Latin America, Europe and Asia to help get results, achieve their wildest dreams, and smash goals. He does this by leveraging over 30 years of experience working in the corporate world and small businesses.
A successful business owner himself, Darren won the Australian Entrepreneur of the Year award for Dent Global after building a wonderful lifestyle business, successfully sold and exited after 15 years.
Before this, Darren worked for over 10 years at Apple Inc. as ‘Manager of Commercial Markets’ during the inspirational Steve Jobs era. While there, he was awarded the prestigious Golden Apple Award.
Darren’s lessons in accountability can help individuals and teams at all levels of a business or organisation across the globe, and are based on actions and results:
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1. Take the Accountability Scorecard
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2. Read my book "The Accountability Advantage - Play Your Best Game"
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3. Book a complimentary Accountability Assessment
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