Goal Setting.  Did I just hear you roll your eyes?  Yes, I believe I did

I can understand why some people moan at the thought of goal setting.  Whether we realize it or not, it’s usually tied to memories of failure or disappointment to achieve something important to us, or to someone else (our company, manager, CEO, spouse, etc…).  Some of us even convince ourselves that goal setting is a waste of time and, as I’ve heard it stated,  “actually limits me in achieving more than that stated in my goal” (what a joke!)

I’m convinced that it’s not necessarily goal-setting itself that is painful, as much as it is HOW one goes about it.  If done properly, goal setting will actually stimulate new ideas, solutions, and aspirations.  And this makes it (dare I say) fun!  Creating goals to achieve your dreams is exciting stuff.  No question.

So that you can successfully revel in goal achievement, here are 7 traps to avoid when setting your personal and professional goals:

Trap 1: Failing to dream

When I’ve asked clients, family, and friends to create a list of at least 50 dreams (things they want to do, become, achieve or attain), I often get a ‘deer in the headlights’ look followed by a list of about 5 things.  Why is that?  Why is it so hard for many us to dream?  Dreaming is not only healthy; it is a necessary first step for setting goals.  Here is a tool that can help you think about the things you want to do/become/achieve/attain: Dream Inventory

Trap 2: Overlooking your starting point

With your dreams in hand, you’ve got to assess where you stand in key areas of your career and life.  Simply doing a personal/organizational S.L.O.T. (Strengths, Limitations, Opportunities, Threats) analysis can help you understand your starting point.  Clearly knowing your starting point helps in identifying the key areas you want to create goals.

Trap 3: “Storing” your goals in your brain

This simply is not going to work for you.  We have got to write our goals down onto a piece of paper.  I, too, have tried storing goals in my head only to forget, specifically, what the goal was until it morphed into something completely other than I originally intended.  This practice further allowed me to make excuses for why I didn’t get something done right, or not at all.  Sound familiar? Sorry…goals aren’t concrete unless they are written.

Trap 4: Adopting someone else’s goals as your own

If you did not create the goal you’re trying to achieve personally, you will not feel inspired toward achievement, nor will you likely achieve.  For example, your director may say to you “We need you performing in the top 15% of the company” (of course they do).  Your goal, in turn, should not be “I will perform in the top 15% of the company by Q1”.  You should have several personal goals that, once achieved, have you exceeding 15% naturally.

Trap 5: Blowing off S.M.A.R.T. Criteria

You’ve heard of SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistically High, Trackable (time bound).  A goal missing any one of these criteria will lack direction.  The purpose of a goal is to provide direction so achievement can be realized. Ask yourself, is my goal specific or is it vague?  Is it attainable or is it out of reach for me? Is it high enough and/or am I pushing myself enough? And finally, by what month, day, and year will I have achieved my goal?  Be real with yourself.

Trap 6: Not planning for obstacles

Obstacles are inevitable.  Whatever your SMART goal, there will be at a minimum one or two obstacles for which you must acknowledge as real, and 100% coming for you.  What are they?  Brainstorm all the possible obstacles that will destroy your goal achievement.  Then ask yourself, what action steps do I need to take to overcome these obstacles when and as they occur?  You may even find your action step becomes a goal in and of itself.

Trap 7: Failing to implement your action steps

Just like we need to write our SMART goals down on paper, we need to implement our actions steps toward achieving our goals and overcoming our obstacles.  I keep my action steps on my Astrid TO/DO Application on my smart phone.  You may have some other way.  Whatever it is, keep track of your action steps.  Prioritize them; give them deadlines.

We are often so busy we want to bypass writing down goals, thinking about goals, etc…the anxiety of today’s chaotic business environment provides a nice adrenaline rush, amongst other things. Remember to slow down for a few moments each day and remember your dreams, what you want, and why.

I love the phrase, “just do it!”  But first we must ask ourselves, “just do what?”  What is my aim?  How long will it take me?  How will I get there?  Where will I start?  When will I start?  When will I finish?  Why do I want to do this?  Then…just do it!

Tweet This Post

“We should all be concerned about the future because we will have to spend the rest of our lives there.” ~ Charles Kettering

What do you think is the number one thing a CEO can do to inspire and motivate an entire organization of people?

Create and share a compelling vision for the future.

So…do you have a compelling vision for your organization?  What is it?  Does everyone know what it is?

No vision…no direction…no inspiration…no results

Many organizations forge ahead into their future without a clear direction, or a vision for success.  In some cases, the CEO and executive team are aware of where they want to see the organization go, but those beneath them are clueless.

And in still other cases, members of an executive team may have different ideas of where they see the organization in 5-10 years (in other words, many different directions!).

When the workforce as a whole doesn’t clearly understand the company’s vision, they encounter many difficulties with day-to-day operations, problem solving and decision-making.  Not good.  This all comes back to bottom-line results.

Executive Leadership is typically the root of the problem

There are several ways the executive team can create a lack of vision, and thus, a lack of motivation and results, in the organization:

1. The CEO doesn’t value creating a visionary goal, and therefore doesn’t uphold creating one with her executive team (This may sound harsh, but how such persons get to the top is disturbing.)
2. The executive team refuses to collaborate on a shared vision, and therefore a clear vision isn’t upheld amongst them (and they wonder why sales are down.)
3. The executive team creates a shared vision, but doesn’t communicate it with the entire workforce (this means no one in the company understands what, exactly, they should be doing so they’ll draw inferences along the way and cross their fingers.)
4. The executive team communicates the shared vision a few times to the workforce, but lack a mechanism for upholding the consistent communication of the vision (the workforce wonders if the vision is to be taken seriously.)

How to create an inspirational force in your organization

Step 1: The Executive Team defines their 5-year Goal (as a guideline for thought, you can download the main types of BHAG’s, or Big Hairy Audacious Goals, here)

Step 2: The Executive Team describes their Vision for success – what it will look like when they achieve the 5-year Goal.

Simply describe your vision for success in bullet phrases.  Once members of the team state their ideas for success out loud, you will be a part of a team discussion like none other!  This is such an important discovery step toward learning if the members of your team should even be in business together.

Step 3: The Executive Team creates a communication system for upholding the visionary goal.

The communication system will be successful if it accounts for repetitious communication of the visionary goal by the executives, management, and supervisors.  If this does not happen, your workforce will not be inspired toward getting company results.  You’ve wasted your time.

Bonus Step For Leadership Organizations: Truly excellent organizations will roll out a strategy and/or strategy map for the workforce to follow and align their daily activities.  No matter how chaotic our business environment, your people will always know what they are to be doing!

In accordance with Kaplan and Norton in their research-based book, Strategy Maps: Converting Intangible Assets Into Tangible Outcomes, a strategy map clearly identifies the critical few objectives necessary for achieving the mission/vision of the organization from the perspective of the customer, internal processes, and organizational learning & growth.

Instead of tracking and measuring 100+ objectives, you have only to track core objectives for achieving results.  I highly recommend following this book!  If you’re not big on reading or implementing this sort of thing, work with someone who is.

A few more important thoughts about creating a vision…

Let’s be clear: I’m not talking about a run-of-the-mill vision.  An “apparently we should have a vision of where we’re going to go, so let’s just take about 5 or 10 minutes or so and figure this out so we can move on” vision.  No…I’m talking about a real, exciting vision…a compelling vision.   A vision that gets you out of bed every day excited to see how much butt your are going to kick on the way up to achieving the vision.

Cautionary note: Of course the vision must first inspire the executive team.  If the executive team isn’t inspired by the vision, no one will be.  No one.

Here’s to the future!

Tweet This Post