So, I was working with my coach, Jean-Pierre LeBlanc, recently, and we began to talk about the Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) for my coaching. Many great human endeavors started with somethign that had seemed crazy. Kennedy proposed putting a man on the moon in less than 10 years. Bill Gates wanted a computer on every desk, at a time when most computers took up more than a room, *those* are BHAGs. So, my coach asked, what is my BHAG? Mine is to make the entire world a kinder, more loving, more exciting and abundant place. OK, sounds fluffy, like something a beauty pageant contestant would say…except that I’m serious. I want to have that kind of impact on the world. I want the whole damn world to be a better place because of my work, PERIOD. OK, that’s a BHAG, no equivocating there. So, my coach asks, how will you know you’ve done that, Dave? Fair question. I will know I have impacted the world when I have had 10 or more clients who are Big Names, such as people mentioned on the TIME Magazine’s Most Influential People list, or the like. These are people who have big impact, and if they have bigger, or more powerful and positive impact, because they have worked with me, then I have done my job. Now, I’m not there yet, but I will get there. I have focus, and metrics, so now it is simply a matter of time…and audacity. I know I have lots of the latter, as to the former, we’ll see.
So, a friend gave me a copy of TIME’s 100 most influential list, and I noted the following people who I would love to have as clients. If you are on this list and find this post, please feel free to reach out to me, I can help you to become even more impactful. If you know one of these individuals, I would be most grateful for an introduction. Otherwise, keep your fingers crossed for me and send me good thoughts, I’m on a path. So, without further ado, here is the list of people from the TIME’s Most Influential People, whom I would love to have as clients (in no order).
Reed Hastings
Joseph Stiglitz
Amy Poehler
Geoffrey Canada
Ron Bruder
Mark Zuckerberg
Julian Assange
Jennifer Egan
Congressman Paul Ryan
Rob Bell
Colin Firth
Amy Chua
Joe Biden
Cory Booker
Gabrielle Giffords
Michelle Obama
Michele Bachman
Chris Christie
Justin Bieber
Prince William / Kate Middleton
Joe Scarborough
Tom Ford
Saad Mohseni
Sue Savage-Rumbaugh
Blake Lively
Hilary Clinton
Oprah Winfrey
Esther Duflo
Matthew Weiner
Lisa Jackson
Larry Page
Nathan Wolfe
Cecile Richards
Grant Achatz (I like the picture with the pheasant)
Feisal Rauf
Heidi Murkoff
Rebecca Eaton
Kathy Giusti
Ray Chambers
Scott Rudin
Derrick Rossi
Felisa Wolfe-Simon
Sergio Marchionne
David Cameron
Mia Wasikowska
John Lasseter
Chris Colfer
Major General Margaret Woodward
Bruno Mars
David and Charles Koch
General David Petraeus
Matt Damon
Gary White
George R R Martin
Jamie Dimon
Sting
Jonathan Franzen
Michelle Rhee
Mark Wahlberg
Arianna Huffington
Barack Obama
John Boehner
Benjamin Netanyahu
Patti Smith
Hello,
I am convinced that it is only if we have one BHAG that we can pull ourselves up with out much external consultation every time we feel down. I do not like to run to a pick-me-up person when someone says something negative to me. I’d much rather have a pin board in my room on the ceiling right over my bed that reads my favorite BHAG to me every night I go to bed.
Thanks for sharing your version.
Life is so ‘daily’ that I need motivation ‘daily’.
Awesome notion the BHAG! Last night I watched “Moneyball” (gotta see it, the way you think, even if not a sports fan) and it got me thinking about this very thing. The guy didn’t win the World Series but he changed the game. The biggest IT corp. ever was started by an antisocial dropout hacker. This thing does happen. For years as a framer I have known that houses were just being built all wrong. I am smarter than most of the engineers I’ve worked with, more creative than most of the architects, more personable with clients than most contractors and realtors, but what I see is houses built facing the wrong direction, following the wrong structural protocols, sold to the wrong people, and unavailable to the folks who deserve a proper home the most: young families. I want to change all that. I am a high school dropout with almost no IT skills, don’t hobnob well (I hate elitism and cliques), have no capital or credit, and my business sense is a joke. But I can do this. Any input on how?
Ron, so you’ve got skills and you’ve got some beliefs about how things should be. You’ve also got some beliefs that are in your way. I have three questions for you, regarding how to get where you want to go:
1> What is your vision? (Include in this who you help and what is unique about you and your service)
2> What are some next steps, with time lines?
3> What do you need to let go of?