3. Having ambitious and well-defined goals is important, but it is useless to think about them much. My job is to focus on the small wins that enable my people to make a little progress every day.
More important than creating big goals is to actually connect those goals to each level in the organization.
This is the process of translating a Mission Statement into Commander’s Intent into actionable tasks. (“There’s the hill we’re going to take…but nevermind that because first we have to cross a minefield…and to do that I need you to mark the lane.”)
It’s also vital for the team members to see that their small win contributes to the team’s big win. And even though Soldiers will dutifully execute any task assigned them…leaders will shift from positional power to transformational power if they can connect at the Soldier level and show how their contribution matters.
http://blogs.hbr.org/2010/05/12-things-that-good-bosses-bel/