The Cubs Are On Their Way (and what we can learn from them)...

How is it that my beloved Chicago Cubs boast the second WORST record in the Major Leagues, but the SIXTH best attendance record (including the FIFTH best attendance compared to 2011)?  Why would so many support so fully a team demonstrating such professional ineptness?

The answer is simple - it's because the fans on the north side of Chicago believe that there's a PLAN in place that will bring the success they so desperately crave, and that it's being carried out!    Just yesterday the Cubs President of Baseball Operations (and the architect of "The Plan"), Theo Epstein candidly shared with the Cubbies faithful that 2013 may show NO IMPROVEMENT over the current year - this, also according to PLAN.

So, let me ask you, Company Leader...What's your PLAN to lead your team to the success they crave?

If I were to ask you to list all of the important reasons why you should craft a business plan for your company for next year, you could probably fill the page with great answers, but there are only TWO that really matter:

1. You can't attract or retain great people if they don't know where you're going.  If YOU don't know, they can't know. If you don't have a plan, you don't know.
2. Your leadership team, agents, and staff will DO WHAT YOU DO, regardless of what you say.  "More is caught, than taught".  You've only earned the right to expect your agents, managers, and staff to craft, share, and be held accountable for business plans when YOU craft, share and agree to be held accountable for your organization's plan.

The form of the plan is not important - that you spend time to "professionally mull" outside your normal work routine is, and that it enables you to clearly envision and communicate your plan to your fans.  

I challenge you, Company Leader, to craft, communicate, and begin living a strategic plan (call it ANYTHING you'd like!) within the next 60 days.  Why NOW?  Because if you don't, you won't.  Why YOU?  Because business planning is a fundamental responsibility of LEADERS, whether in baseball, or real estate.

LEAD (and next year can be your year, too!).