As humans, one thing we love to do is set goals. We constantly seek ways to push ourselves beyond our limits and often jot down our aspirations on paper or the latest productivity app. Unfortunately, all too often, our goals end up abandoned after minimal effort to achieve them. I have witnessed this phenomenon frequently on both the companies I worked for and employees of my business.
Why is this the case? It’s important to acknowledge that creating actionable goals that are worth pursuing can be a difficult task. However, achieving those goals can prove even more challenging.
There are two specific reasons for this:
We set goals that are not aligned with our companies strategy and/or our personal long term plan
Achieving goals requires a significant amount of change, which can be challenging for many of us.
While the execution is critical to goal achievement, it is equally important to set the right goals, regardless of the situation. If you are reading this article, it’s likely that you’re looking to improve your career prospects and have tried various ways to set good goals, only to be shot down by leadership or have come up short for whatever reason. However, I urge you not to give up as goal setting is the key to reaching your desired destination.
In this article, we will be focusing on how to set the right goals to help you achieve your career aspirations. So let us delve into the specifics and get down to business.
Big Picture Thinking
Setting goals is an exciting process that can elevate both your team and your own personal achievements. You may want to rush right in and start seeing some progress.Â
Instead, I want you to pause for a moment.
Goal setting shouldn’t happen in a vacuum. It’s important to approach this process in a deliberate and informed manner. As such, before diving in, take a moment to pause and consider the broader context in which you are setting your goals. In particular, it is essential to understand the objectives of the company you work for. To do this, begin by reviewing any available resources that can help you gain a deeper understanding on what your company is trying to achieve..
Some helpful starting points are:
For publicly traded companies, annual reports are a useful source of information. Company town halls can also provide valuable insights into the leadership's priorities, even if you need to read between the lines.
Consider having a candid conversation with your boss about your desire to learn more about the company's objectives. Good managers will be happy to help you gain a better understanding of the organization's goals.
To further refine your understanding of the company's mission, review its mission statement. Consider how it aligns with the work you and your team are doing.
Take a look at your company's organizational chart. Reviewing how your team is structured can offer clues around what’s important to them. Nothing reveals a company's priorities quite like the way they allocate their resources.
Why is this important? For goal setting to be really effective, there has to be complete alignment. Achieving something that doesn't roll up to anything meaningful isn't a valuable contribution. Even worse, if the goal required substantial effort to complete, you've just wasted company resources, which is a step in the wrong direction. This is not an area you want to find yourself in often.
Instead, your goals, upon successful completion, should take you one step closer to where you want to be. As a result, your company will be one step closer to meeting its objectives, given that you focused on alignment right from the start.
The Goal Setting Funnel
Congratulations on getting a solid grip on your company's objectives! With this crucial foundation in place, you're now ready to embark on your journey towards achieving your goals. But we’re not done yet. To really take your goal-setting game to the next level, there are a few more key steps to follow. Are you ready to take your success to new heights?"
Looking back on my early career, I can vividly recall the frustrating feeling of consistently being shot down every time I tried to craft goals for my team or department. At first, I couldn't understand why my carefully thought-out objectives, which I believed were closely aligned with the company's overall mission, weren't being well-received. But after enduring countless painful meetings and repeated rejection, I gradually came to a powerful realization: there's an art to creating truly impactful goals in the workplace, and it involves striking a delicate balance between creativity and the level you're sitting at.
Realizing this allowed me to conceptualize goal-setting as a funnel, one that hones in on your specific role within the machine that is your company.
Here’s a brief description of its tiers:
Company Objectives: These are set by Leadership, including the CEO and board. These are no ordinary goals, my friend. They're ambitious, all-encompassing and set the tone for what the company hopes to achieve. Picture this: The CEO and board have the power to steer the company towards uncharted territories, finding new competitive advantages in the process. The possibilities are endless! As a result, these objectives can create a sense of creative freedom for those in leadership positions. If you’re not one of the lucky few yet, the best you can expect is open communication that trickles down to you.
Short-Term Goals: The blueprint for achieving big wins. When it comes to achieving something substantial, having a solid plan in place is critical. By breaking down company objectives into manageable 1, 3, or 5 year plans, top players can focus on achieving major milestones that align with top tier priorities. But it’s not just up to the top brass to make things happen. Leadership works closely with Vice Presidents and heads of company functions to ensure that everyone is pulling in the same direction.
Department: This is where the magic happens. It all starts with actionable and quantifiable goals that require a strong strategy and flawless execution. At this stage, directors need to ensure all cylinders are firing as the bulk of department resources are probably dedicated to achieving these goals. Directors are constrained to meeting the short term plans passed down to them. How they achieve it is up to them.
Team: Goals laser focused on execution should be the game plan here. Manager’s should have the power to implement ways to measure frequent progress by using tools such as dashboards and scorecards. Anything that helps them measure leading indicators that truly reflect what the department is striving to accomplish is effort well spent.
You: Don’t lose sight of your own goals along the way. Understanding each of the tiers is like a cheat code for you. It lays out what you need to work on to earn massive visibility. It also highlights ever evolving skills as short term plans transition into the grander vision.
By adopting this framework, you'll quickly discover how much smoother it is to gain the support of key decision-makers in your organization. Your goals will effortlessly ascend to the highest levels, as they rightfully should. Moreover, they will be precisely targeted towards the areas where you can have the most significant impact, allowing you to excel and reach your full potential.
The Outputs / Capabilities Framework
This final component is a game-changer. It sets you up with the right mindset and tools to make sure your goals are challenging yet achievable, based on your current state.
Now, let's dive into the three pillars of this powerful framework:
First up, we have The Landscape. To set impactful goals, you need to start by understanding where you're currently at. Relying on emotions or abstract conversations with your team just won't cut it. Instead, data is your best friend here. By quantifying pain points and areas of opportunity, you'll gain valuable insights into where you want to go. After all, you can't get where you want to be without knowing where you're starting from.
Next, we have The Outputs. Think of the effort you put into achieving your goal as the journey, and the outputs as the destination. By taking the time to identify the actual benefits you want to realize, you'll be able to create goals that tie directly to a true return on investment.
Last but not least, we have The Capabilities. While it's great to aim high and shoot for the moon, being overly ambitious without a proper understanding of your current capabilities can lead to disappointing results. Remember, not every goal needs to be attempted right away. By taking a long-term view and starting with smaller goals, you'll build up the skills and confidence needed to tackle bigger ones down the road.
Putting this all together, I know there’s a great deal to unpack and put into motion. But trust me, it's worth taking the time to really wrap your head around these concepts. After all, the final section will be much more effective if you do.
Let’s give it a go.
Structuring Your Goals
Are you tired of setting goals that lack direction and purpose? A goal without structure is like a ship without a compass, drifting aimlessly in the vast sea of possibilities. That's why it's crucial to follow a consistent goal structure that helps you create goals that are worth pursuing.
S.M.A.R.T. goals are the ultimate method for laser-focusing your objectives and achieving the results you desire. If you're not familiar with this concept, don't worry, we've got you covered.
Specific: First up, your goals need to be specific. This might seem obvious, but it's crucial for ensuring that you're focused on what truly matters. Generic goals quickly lose steam and can even take you in a completely different direction than you intended.
Measurable: Measurable goals are essential for tracking progress, gaining insights, and celebrating wins along the way. Most goals take time and effort to achieve, so having a way to monitor your progress, either quantitatively or qualitatively, is key.
Achievable: It's important to strike a balance between realism and ambition. You want your goals to be big enough to keep everyone engaged, but also achievable to avoid killing morale and wasting time. Make sure you're aiming towards something meaningful.
Relevant: Goals are like the North Star, guiding us towards our desired destination and providing us with the motivation and focus necessary to achieve great things. But goals are not just about us and our own ambitions; they are also about something much bigger than ourselves. The most meaningful and impactful goals are those that align with a larger purpose or mission.
Time Bound: It's not enough to simply have a general idea of where you want to be professionally; you need a specific plan of action and a deadline to make it happen. Imagine you want to land a promotion at work. You could keep working hard day in and day out, but without a clear timeline for when you want to achieve that promotion, you're just spinning your wheels. By setting a specific deadline for yourself, such as "I want to be promoted to manager within the next 12 months," you give yourself a tangible goal to work towards. This will motivate you to take action, make progress, and ultimately achieve your goal within the designated timeframe.
If you've made it this far, you likely have a clearer understanding that setting the right goals is crucial to career success. However, it is essential to approach this process in a deliberate and informed manner. Big picture thinking, including understanding the objectives of the company, is critical to ensure complete alignment. The goal setting funnel, which focuses on where one fits in the company, can help create truly impactful goals. By striking a delicate balance between creativity and the level at which one sits in the company, one can develop goals that are worth pursuing and achieving.Â
Remember, the right goals can take you one step closer to where you want to be AND help your company meet its objectives.