Personal Strategy Guidelines

Personal Strategy Objectives:
Apply frameworks presented in the course, as well as other frameworks that you deem relevant, to analyze and formulate strategies for your life and career.
Outline of the Personal Strategy Write-Up:
I. Vision and Mission
A. Vision – an overall life goal that is overarching and long term
B. Mission – this identifies your purpose and how you will achieve your vision
These may be self-focused or others focused. I caution against something like ¡§to be successful¡¨ or ¡§to be happy¡¨ because, as Viktor E. Frankl suggested, ¡§Don¡¦t aim at success ¡V the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one¡¦s dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one¡¦s surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run ¡V in the long run, I say! ¡V success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it.¡¨ But it is your strategy and I only offer Frankl¡¦s words because I find wisdom in them. If you do not, then by all means ignore them.
II. Strategic Analyses
A. Identify your primary and secondary stakeholder and how you create value for those stakeholders.
B. Analysis of the general environment – factors that may either positively or negatively impact your ability to achieve your vision/mission or strategic objectives
C. Personal SWOT analysis ¡V what are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
III. Strategy Formulation
A. Strategic Objectives ¡V specific goals that operationalize your mission and have defined time frames for completion
B. Here are some additional questions you might ask yourself:
„h Career:
o How do you, as a KU graduate, position yourself to compete for jobs with graduates from other schools?
o How can you differentiate yourself?
o What is your competitive advantage?
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o How will you keep your career on track?
o How will you continue to grow professionally?
„h Personal:
o What is important to you? Family, faith, community, health,
causes, travel, personal enrichment, etc.?
o How do the things that are important tie into your strategy?
o How do you continue to grow personally?
o How do you maintain life balance?
o What is the life legacy you want to leave?