Author: admin

I am not a camping sort of a person (and famously so), which makes the tent in the title a metaphorical one only. I’ve never really understood why we work hard to secure material comforts, only to sling them away and ‘get back to nature’ under a thin piece of canvas (or it’s modern waterproof, rip-stop nylon equivalent).

The pinnacle of civilisation isn’t the internet, or democracy, or the pneumatic tyre. It’s the en suite bathroom. And when you can buy a tent that comes with it’s own cosy brick built bathroom I shall go camping.

Until then I’m really talking about tents in the team context.

…And the ‘who’ in the title is about the person or people you’re going to need to make your year a success.

Who is going to enable your modern career to grow and develop?

Who is going to introduce you to new people, new ideas and new ways of working?

Who will be making you smile and supporting you?

Who is in your tent?

They might not be in there now. If not, write down the names of your ‘2013 Enablers’ and go and buy them tea and cake. Bring them out of the cold and into the cake shop.

Much more cosy than a tent!

Yes, yes I know that this year is now firmly under sail and pulling out of the harbour and into the clear waters of January. However, it’s never too late to take a quick check of the sails and the ropes and the hatches and other saily-boaty-nautical terms (of which I am ignorant) and make sure we have the right charts and a nice sharp pencil to draw a line on them indicating our direction of travel.

January is one of those months that always seems to float past at a surprising rate of knots and then before you know it, it’s mid-Feb and the first quarter is halfway done.

Therefore, it makes good sense to take a time-out from the back-to-work and back-to-school rush and pause and sit and think. Think about where you wish to end up by the end of December 2013.

And then write it all down and keep your goals in sight. Simply sharing them with a friend is not good enough. You need to make a pencil mark on your chart of life and keep it in sight.

If you don’t, you run the risk of simply sailing round the Isle of Wight for a year and where would that take you?

I have a tiny sticky-note on my desk with the 7 goals I have for 2013. I’ve even put them in order of completion so I can tick them off as I go. The first one is to submit the manuscript for Riding the Rocket on 1st March. R-t-R will be a great little book about modern career management. A must for all of us! I have 6 weeks to write it and 1 to edit it. No pressure. It’s only 40,000 words…

So, my question is this: What’s your first goal for this year and where have you placed the list of all your 2013 goals?

Sticky-notes ahoy! Happy sailing!