Goal Setting for Leadership Success

“Not having a goal is liking throwing a dart at a blank wall.”  As Senior Strategic Partner, Charles Parnell points out, Goal Setting is a very big part of personal and organizational success.  Identifying objectives, developing SMART goals around those objectives and executing on them is essential to the accomplishment of critical objectives for your life and your business.  Enjoy this week’s Power Idea.

We have been discussing the value of goal setting for some time now. The discourse in organizations has been serious and deliberate. There is no question that the value of goal setting with an action plan for execution is critical to success. One wonders why some people don’t take this issue more seriously. We meticulously plan vacations, weddings, etc. but not our work and career. Lack of goals and plans produce lack of results in life.

Let’s review some basics in the goal setting process. Your dreams become goals, but will not result in tangible outcomes unless they are memorialized and executed in an Action Plan. This Action Plan is the foundation for goal setting. It helps crystallize your dreams and helps you decide which ones you want to become goals. Further, it provides an evaluation and priority structure for your goals that are critically important. In order for your Action Plan to work for you, the following basic principles are significant and must be followed:

• Make sure the goals are your own – there is an increased likelihood the ones you set for yourself will be seriously pursued by you
• State your goals positively and specifically – this will eliminate any roadblocks or limitations
• Your goals must be realistic, attainable and measurable. – realistic goals are goals that you are willing to work toward because you honestly believe you can achieve them. The key to determining whether a goal is realistic lies in the planning process. If you can determine the solutions and specific action steps that, when accomplished, will have achieved the goal, your goal is well worth undertaking.

There are different types of goals – tangible and intangible. Tangible goals are easy to visualize while intangible goals may be more difficult to visualize at first, but are essential to your leadership and development. Tangible goals are substantially real; they are capable of being precisely identified or realized by the mind while intangible goals are not. The success of your goals program will rest heavily on how well you master the use of each type of goal.

It is necessary to have short and long range goals. Short range goals can be “stepping stones” to long range goals and the building blocks for success.

We know that achieving success in your job and career is not done by hap stance; it is done by careful planning and execution. The goal setting system is a powerful tool to utilize. So make it a part of your working system and watch the coming of success!

Need more information? Don’t hesitate to contact us at info@hpisolutions.com or call us at 623-866-8200. We are ready to help!