Career Mission's Chief Executive Officer, A. Harrison Barnes, in a webinar discussed the importance of planning and strategy for growth and success.

According to Harrison every group needs to have a strategic objective that is promoted by its leaders if it plans to survive in the long-term.  “Without a vision the people perish.” This is relevant to your career also because when you are choosing a company to work for, or even when you are governing your own life, it is absolutely crucial that a clear strategy is defined.  You need a plan for your overall life and career that you are seeking to accomplish. 

Goals, to-do lists and so forth are very powerful things.  In fact, if you are not setting daily to-do lists and goals you are really short changing yourself.  The reason you are short changing yourself is because without utilizing these tools you will accomplish far, far less with your time. The most successful super achievers out there accomplish incredible results due to simply having a strategy.  When you have a strategy everything else falls into place.

You need to be part of a company with a strategic objective and you should seek out companies with strategic objectives that you believe in.  However, it is not simply enough for a company to have a strategic objective.  The company must also have managers and others who are constantly setting goals and tactical objectives in coordination with their managers, to reach the longer-term strategic objectives. 

The most crucial first step, though, is devising an overall strategic objective for your life and career.  You need to know where you are going.  There is power in to-do lists, but before creating any to-do list, the most important thing you can do is set a goal for where you want your “to do list” to take you.  And then, eventually, you will get there.