A force of one: effective planning requires self-analysis and focus.

AT FIRST GLANCE, IT APPEARS THAT Joseph A. Tucker Sr., president and CEO of Victory Personnel Services Inc., a Milwaukee-based, full-service professional and temporary staffing firm, was an overnight success. First-year revenues were $1 million in 1992 and doubled to $2 million the following year. However, Tucker has strategically mapped out Victory's growth since its inception.

For example, upon entering the industry, he subcontracted small-scale staffing jobs with Milwaukee-headquartered Manpower Inc., an $18 billion global leader in staffing services. Then, during development of Victory's 15-person advisory board a few years later, Tucker placed a retired Manpower executive high on his roster of potential consultants, later, when Manpower actively sought to increase corporate diversity participation through additional minority-owned business contracts, some worth millions of dollars, Tucker was chosen as one of its suppliers.

Today, Victory boasts a contract staff of more than 500 employees in 36 states in addition to 15 full-time employees. Tucker projects revenues of $35 million for 2007 and ultimately wants to lake the company's revenues "north of the $100 million mark."

While our own ambitions may be smaller in scale, we all have goals we want to achieve. "Planning is not only important, it's critical-to the achievement process, indicates Thomas A. Gordon, a licensed psychologist and principal of TAGA Consulting, a leadership and organizational development firm in Philadelphia. Over the next three issues, we will take you beyond conventional wisdom to highlight effective planning strategies, complete with the application and resources to help you gel started, regardless of your end objectives.

ILLUSTRATION BY JENNIFER CRUTE