Responsible Goal Setting for Today’s Businesses

Responsible leaders understand that once stated clearly and communicated to the organization, goals align people’s energy. When they’re linked to rewards, they have a powerful effect on people’s behavior as well. Goals set the tone for decisions and actions that follow and greatly influence the results that get delivered.

The goals in which I am speaking have to be of the right type and magnitude to be achievable. And above all, the goals must reflect the opportunities in the world today. I like to call these goals Responsible Goals.

You can’t set goals by looking in the rearview mirror at what was accomplished last year and adjust this year’s numbers accordingly. You also can’t go by what is being projected for the industry or the economy. Responsible goals should reflect the opportunities that lie ahead and what is possible for your business as it moves forward. Responsible goals must be clearly defined with specific time frames. Then you must be willing to adjust them as the world changes and the opportunities and organizational capabilities change. Responsible leaders have to be insightful, strategic and most of all flexible. You need to assess whether the goals can be achieved. By trying to force goals upon your team, you may be destroying your business. When you set goals, you have to understand what actions and behaviors will follow as people try to achieve them.

Sometimes you (as the responsible leader) might want to set goals that build the self-confidence of your team. Goals that you are almost certain can be accomplished. These types of goals are called stretch goals. Stretch goals can be used to show your team that they can accomplish more than they think. Stretch goals can get people’s “juices” flowing and bring energy to the team, but only if they are achievable. The point of responsible goal setting is not to get people to work harder. Rather, it is to get people to work smarter.

Responsible goals are also tied to how the business is positioned. In a complex and rapidly changing economy, the nature of the goals as well as their importance may need to be dramatically different. Change happens, and responsible leaders have to keep their eye on how it affects their goals. Even if the goals aren’t adjusted quickly to fit with the changing times, you can adjust the rewards that are tied to them.

Keeping goals meaningful and the organization on track to achieve them under the conditions we are facing today is challenging but very possible. Responsible leaders are up for the challenge. Are YOU?

Shantera Chatman is CEO and President of Professional Solutions, the nation’s first Responsible Leadership™ training and speaking company. The mission of Professional Solutions is to develop leaders, teams, and organizations that are more responsible, more accountable, and more effective. For more information, visit us @ www.1professionalsolution.com

Article Source: http://www.leadershiparticles.net

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