Date: 1/27/2016

Title: GOALS AND ACCOUNTABILITY – Part 1

By Jennifer Erickson

Being a leader means getting things done through others. You do this by translating your vision into goals that others can understand. You make sure you motivate them to achieve this vision. It is not done in a few weeks or in a few months. Achieving through others takes time. Part of what gets you there is to set goals and hold others accountable.

There are three reasons to set goals:

• Motivates individual performance
• Becomes basis for analyzing & making improvements to your team
• Help team members focus on common purpose and work together

Research points to this critical connection time and time again: setting goals motivates people. Imagine if you tried to accomplish something new or change habitual behaviors that were troublesome for you. How would you gauge your progress? How would you know you’d accomplished what you set out to do? This may seem trivial and common sense, but I have seen it many times in companies and teams. They don’t set specific goals. The leader says something like, “We need to get better.” Or, “We can’t have a repeat of our numbers from last month!” What in the world does this mean? How do we ‘get better’?

When goals are set, make sure they are achievable. I am not going to work very hard (in other words, I’m not motivated), if I say my goal is to lose 20 pounds in 3 weeks. I am setting myself up to fail. And, failure crushes motivation.

To learn more about how to practice this understanding, contact Results Group, LLC at www.ResultsGroupLLC.com or 515-330-2866.