Last night I was watching a discussion of Canada’s role in Afghanistan was discussed on “The West Block” Mr. David Mulroney, the former deputy minister in charge of the Afghanistan Task Force, said there are some important lessons to be learned from the results and mistakes made during that mission. He also indicated that a recently released report indicated that there was little attention given to really understanding of the context surrounding Canada’s mission. This fact alone amazed me! We were sending our armed forces into a war-torn area without a really good understanding of what was possible to achieve? Wow!
In fact, Mr. Mulroney went on to say the government should “figure out how we got it wrong before moving ahead”. This seems so obvious! Learn from your mistakes so you don’t keep making the same mistakes over and over again.
According to Mulroney, the key to success in international missions is “setting a small number of modest, definable and achievable goals”.
You may not understand Canada’s role in Afghanistan, or support efforts overseas in war-torn areas, but there is a 
very strong message for every business and not-for-profit leader to make a major impact
1. Set a small number of modest goals. Too many goals or lofty goals sound great but offer more opportunities for missing the mark.
2. Ensure your goals are clearly stated, measurable and achievable. This may sound like old news but too often goals miss the mark in these three facets.
3. Learn from your mistakes. Listen to different perspectives, review new information as it comes in and be willing to make those tough decisions and changes needed to really advance your efforts.
People are remarkably bad at remembering long lists of goals. I learned this at a professional level when trying to get my high-performance coaching clients to stay on track; the longer their lists of to-dos and goals, the more overwhelmed and off-track they got. Clarity comes with simplicity.
Brendon Burchard
If you could use some help in aligning your goals with what you can achieve and make a big impact, book a complimentary Business Assessment Session.
