leadingtoday.org

Leadership Tip of the Month

August 2002

Copyright 2002 ã weLEAD, Inc.

Leadership Goals?

The establishment and completion of goals is essential to sound leadership. Goals are important for a number of reasons. They provide direction toward the completion of responsibilities and duties. They encourage us to find more efficient ways to work. They provide a benchmark for us to later evaluate our performance and make needed changes or adjustments. Finally, the right goals can be both challenging and motivating, which in turn can improve our personal performance. We may also need to help establish goals for others who work with us. If so, we must realize that goals should be used to clarify the expectations of others and should never be established to control or punish other people. Here are a few important things to remember when establishing goals for yourself or others.

Establish relevant goals that are related to your primary activities and needs. Remember that rival goals compete for your time, energy and attention. Important activities that have no established goals will most likely be neglected. Take the time to determine which activities and needs are primary and which are secondary. We are only capable of focusing on a limited amount of activities at any one time.

Establish goals that are specific and clear. Rather than “setting a goal” that only achieves a simple activity, establish measurable results and a timeline for achievement. Include specific activities that can be taken to achieve the overall goal. Often a series of minor steps or "mini goals" can be taken to achieve the established primary goal. Write these smaller steps down as part of your grand plan to attain accomplishment. Remember that a large task may seem virtually impossible to accomplish until we break it down into smaller achievable steps.

Establish goals that are challenging yet realistic.  For the goal to be motivating it is important to strike a balance in its level of difficulty. The goal must be a challenge and stretch our present capabilities. If it is too easy or requires very little effort it becomes meaningless. However, it should not be so difficult that it appears unrealistic and becomes demoralizing.

Collaborate with others in setting goals. If your task is to establish goals for others, you must get their input for it to be effective and meaningful to them. Their level of commitment will be dramatically increased when your goals for them, and their own personal goals can be mutually blended. Even when establishing your own goals, input from others may provide you with a different perspective or priority.

Write the goals down! Numerous studies have shown there is a much greater outcome toward goal setting and accomplishment when they are written down. Putting goals on paper also avoids a later misunderstanding and increases the level of commitment by becoming a priority with printed expectations.

For weLEAD, this is Greg Thomas reminding you that it was Bishop Fulton J. Sheen who said this about reaching out toward to our objectives and goals. “When we walk toward the light, the shadow will always follow, but when we walk away from the light, the shadow is always in front of us.”

On the weLEAD Website you will find over 70 other free helpful leadership tips. They are all available in a text version or as an MP3 audio!