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How to Succeed in Setting Priorities

Do you struggle with understanding priorities in your organization? 

When I look at where our ideas are getting held up, it often points to areas where vision and the tasks list aren’t lining up. Often, what the Visionary views as most important is not the same as what the Doer views as most important.

Not having a proper understanding of what is most important can stall your idea.

Visionary’s priorities:

Dream an idea

Implement the idea

Gain support around the idea

Make money with that idea [make the project sustainable]

Share about the success or failure of the idea

Doer’s priorities:

Create a strategic plan

Communicate the message

Create a financial plan

Track the success/failure

Accomplish the to-do list

The Doer’s priorities slow down the Visionary in doing what he or she does best. There’s a rub against what makes the Visionary come alive, versus where the Doer gets to use his or her strengths of organization and implementation.

There’s a difference in priorities, and unless the Visionary and the Doer are intentional about communicating what they each feel is most important, they may clash [i.e. The Visionary may think it’s most important to send a marketing email while the Doer thinks it’s most important to update the database.]

What might happen if priorities are not set:

For the Visionaries: They will not stick to the vision. If they don’t clearly see what is next, they may get distracted by their next good idea. Visionaries will struggle to finish any tasks, because they can’t see what the next one is.

For the Doers: They will work themselves to death trying to get EVERYTHING done. Instead of seeing one thing following the next, they will get jumbled up in the to-do list. Doers will try to do everything, instead of doing the next thing.

Here are a few tips for success in setting priorities: