Today is not only "National Cat Herders Day," but it's also the 4th anniversary of the death of AIM: AOL Instant Messenger.

Born in May 1997, AIM left this world on December 15, 2017 at the age of 20, providing a great excuse for us today to ask how you might unwittingly be killing whatever "aims" you have as a leader...and whether the time, #energy, and money you're devoting to achieving your stated intentions are really just masking the fact that you're an ineffective leader who is aimlessly trying to herd cats.

The headlines:

📰 ‘Enormous buying power of federal government’: Biden aims for carbon-neutral U.S. by 2050 with new executive order (MarketWatch)

📰 Music Industry unites to pledge net-zero emissions by 2050 (The Guardian)

📰 Nebraska aims to decarbonize its power sector by 2050 (The Hill)

The quotes:

💬 "If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time." - Zig Ziglar

💬 "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky

💬 "Aim small, miss small." - The Patriot

The questions:

💡 (G)ROW: How well can your stakeholders articulate your supposed goals?

💡 (P)ROTECT: What's holding your team back from taking the shots needed to secure victory?

💡 (S)USTAIN: How well can you shift between big picture targets and discreet intermediate steps?

#Leadership #Sustainability