As I was preparing to leave for my "vacation," (more details on this adventure later), I was thinking about a business trip I took a few months back. It was less than pleasant. I was stuck in London at the airport. My flight was canceled, and I had 40 things on my to-do list.
One of them was to prepare a podcast, which I did right there in the airport. At the time I was thinking about how I was going to get everything done, which made me ponder how executives of global supply chains prioritize.
That's what the podcast is about, and here is where you can listen to it and read the transcript.
"Identify the Correct Supply Chain Opportunities" at:
http://www.tompkinsinc.com/podcast/transcripts/10-07-08_podcast4_supply_chain_opportunity.asp
In this podcast, I ask the question: "Was there something even more important I should have been doing that wasn't even on my list of 40 items?" I hope you take a minute to look at your to-do list (I'm sure you have one, right?) and ask yourself this same question.
It is easy to overlook the strategic goals and core competencies that are the real reasons your career, your company or your industry exists. What are some of the essential things you could be doing instead of sinking your time into the little details? Things like:
- Become a mentor to others.
- Take a look at the vision statement of your company and see if it should be evaluated again (or create one if it's not there).
- Look at each item on your to-do list and ask yourself what tangible goals each task is accomplishing. See if you are truly on your way to those goals, or if you're just going through the motions.
I hope to hear from you about your "big picture" goals in the comments. Hope you enjoy the podcast, and as I promised, more on my mystery "vacation" coming up soon!
Jim