As another calendar year begins, we turn our sights to new goals.

On a personal note, many of us are motivated by our New Year resolutions, whatever they may be. On a professional basis, we begin to think of what we have accomplished this fiscal year and what still needs to be done.

The new calendar year is a time when, as an organization, we look to the future. Strategic planning sessions will be followed by work plans and goals.

The setting of specific and measurable goals takes time, expertise and consultation with each other. It is time well spent. Not only do accurate recordings of goals give us something to aim for, they give us something to celebrate when we reach them. Our ultimate end-clients are the Canadian Forces members and their families. To best serve them, it is useful to think of each other as our "key focus". Adopting this service-oriented attitude fosters a sense of pulling in the same direction. It also reinforces that we are all working ultimately to better serve the members -- present, retired -- and their families.

I encourage you to embrace the opportunities our workplace and projects provide to get to know your colleagues better and to serve them as "internal clients".

My experience has been that leaders all have a distinguishable sense of service. Then and only then are we truly an organization of leaders.