My Three CEO Goals this New Year Aren’t Actually New

Perry Maddox shares his three CEO goals for 2021 and explains why they’re the same three leadership goal areas every year.

A colleague recently asked me to share some advice.

She wrote:

“A quick update, I have been promoted and now manage the charity that I work for. I am very proud, and also challenged at times. I’d love any advice you could offer me as a young charity lead.”

I know the feeling. Taking on a new leadership role is a big step.

It rarely comes with instructions.

Get Your Goals Right, or Else.

Whether we lead whole organisations or small teams, knowing what to prioritise is essential.

No leader wants to prioritise the wrong work. With limited resources, we simply can’t afford to get our priorities wrong. The cost of a leader focussed on the wrong priority is massive.

Sometimes it’s easy to look ahead and know where to focus. Other times it’s more difficult. Perhaps we’ve started a new role, or perhaps a great deal has changed in the world or in our work. It’s not always clear where to begin.

That’s why I’ve worked out three goals over the years to keep me where I need to be. So when my colleague wrote, I knew exactly where to start.

The same place as always.

Three CEO Goals That Don’t Change.

Three focus areas will never change for me: leadership, strategy and resourcing.

Success begins with the talent and teams around you, so that’s where I begin. After that, my role as a leader is to shape our strategic direction and to ensure the flow of resources to make it happen.

For almost 10 years my goals have read: Leadership, Strategy, Resourcing. I use these goal headings as a CEO now, but they worked well for me as a COO a too. I think they work well as orientation for any leader:

• Leadership. Who’s on your team? It all starts with the people in my teams. Do I have the right leaders, right structure and inclusive cultures where all team members thrive? Am I building deep, diverse talent pipelines into each role from the start? My first goal will always be to multiply leaders across my teams. Get the right people on the bus first, then decide the direction of travel.
• Strategy. Where are you going? Leaders must look up and out to the horizon and own the direction of travel. Your strategic direction will change, but what must never change is your ownership of that direction. That doesn’t mean we set strategy by ourselves. We craft strategy with the teams around us and with the people we serve, drawing in greater collective wisdom. But make no mistake, strategic direction should not be delegated.
• Resourcing. Do you have the resources you need? At the end of the day, leaders must ensure the flow of resources needed to make the strategy happen. That means fundraising, partnership building, representation and getting out the door. Sustainable resourcing equally means financial management, ensuring we not just raise but also use funds well to advance our strategy.

The Big Three Goals for Any Leader.

And the rest you say?

It’s not to say that I don’t keep a firm eye on our programs, operations or communications. Of course I do, but the whole point of building leaders as step one is so that those leaders can lead their areas while I focus on my greatest value addition.

If I’m focusing on multiplying leaders in my teams, our strategic orientation, and ensuring sustainable resourcing, I’m where I need to be as a leader.

What do you think?

Fancy making these your goals too, or do you have other leadership goals you prefer?