COACH'S VIEWS

Everyone knows goals are important. Everyone wants to hit them. If they are so critical and so desirable why are so many goals missed? It all seems so simple. Set a goal, work hard, enjoy the success. The challenge is the complexity inside goal setting. If done properly they create incredible results but if not created correctly they can lead to failure and frustration.

Recently I changed careers. I decided to start my own practice with ActionCOACH providing business coaching to small businesses. In my previous 25 years in the corporate environment, I saw goals created frequently for companies, departments, and individuals. The highest rate of success I have seen is for individuals, followed by departments, and the lowest performance by companies. Even when a company misses its’ stated goals, they still experience good growth in revenue and margin and are generally considered successful, but not always. So, if we see it work in major corporations why doesn’t this happen in personal lives and small business? Perhaps because there are pitfalls to making them highly effective. Here I give some background that should help you get better at using goals.

Our ActionCOACH system relies strongly on Goals. In reality we start with your personal dreams. Know your dreams, with clarity and specificity. Dream Big. Stretch your vision. Visualize them. Make it happen. After the Dreams comes Goals (Personal and Business), Learning, Planning, and Action. We capture it in this formula DxGxLxPxA. A short overview can be found in this blog about vision and goals.

On my own path to self-education, I came across this article titled The Importance, Benefits, and Value of Goal Setting written by Leslie Riopel, MSc. A Professor of Psychology at Northwood University. In her article published on Jan 27, 2021 on www.positivepsychology.com she elaborates on many aspects of goal setting with compelling data to support the views. Ultimately, she shares the importance of goal setting in business and organizations with the conclusion that goals “… create a sense of community, as well as a deeper sense of meaning, and a greater feeling of belonging and satisfaction.” What more could we want? How do we make this happen in our business?

The alignment between Ms Riopel’s perspective and that of ActionCOACH were striking. Below is a short summary of the commonalities I noted.

STRONG GOALS DRIVE RESULTS

But what makes a “strong” goal? To me it requires an understanding of the Quality and Type.

Ms. Riopel says a quality goal incorporates Clarity, Challenge, Commitment, Feedback and Complexity. At ActionCOACH we support the SMART goal approach, this is common to many large organizations but possibly not to small business. It stands for Smart, Measurable, Achievable (or Actionable), Realistic, and Timely. Whichever definition you choose the takeaway is the same for me. Think carefully about your goal before you move forward blindly.

Goals can be classified in two uniquely different ways. Mastery v Performance and Towards v Away (Approach v Avoidance).

MASTERY GOALS are skills and lessons or they are directional like “I will do better”. It is my opinion they work better for individuals as opposed to teams as the individual defines the standard and interprets the result. Of course it could lead from one to deceive themselves, such as the standard drops after the activity to rationalize for themselves. For a team this more subjective measurement could be even more complicated.

PERFORMANCE GOALS are often more numerically based like we will have a certain # of sales transactions, a higher number than a competitor, or even a less than target, such as errors per month. These work well for individuals and for groups.

Shown below is some information that demonstrates that the type of goal that is best depends upon the situation and application. In general, a quantifiable PERFORMANCE goal that drives GROWTH is likely the best option. When the performance goal is set for the avoidance of a negative behavior the success rate is lower. It is my theory that the nature of stating the “negative” in the goal likely drives the wrong message into your sub-conscious. Think of the exercise where you “Don’t think of the pink elephant.” I’m sure you have heard that before. If not, push the pink elephant from your brain and read on.

TOWARDS GOALS, or Approach goals, are goals you are chasing. # of games won, sales growth, etc. they continually motivate.

AWAY GOALS, or Avoidance goals, are avoidance of a pain or negative consequence. In my opinion these goals can be helpful to create positive momentum in a bad situation but do not seem to have that lasting benefit for long term growth.

Evidence of our Towards and Away Goals are in our evolution. Back when humans first roamed the earth for food, they had to evade other creatures also seeking food, THEM! When hunting and gathering the humans would continue moving TOWARD that objective until it was met. Conversely if they were being hunted, they would continue moving AWAY until they were no longer in danger, then the running stopped. Think of how that applies to your goals and behaviors. Setting goals that keep you moving forward will drive more progress than those that allow you to stop.

Below is a table that captures this using test data. The conclusion is that Towards goals drive better performance in general but if the goal must be an Away goal a more generic Mastery approach seems best.

SHARING GOALS DRIVES ACHIEVEMENT

There are many levels to sharing of goals. First, is that it is important to communicate and share theses goals often and in many ways. This is the same for a company, department, sports team and even an individual. Tell others often what your objectives are. Do it in writing. Say it out load. Make it known. The verbalization of the goal creates accountability for those involved. It has the added benefit that when the goal is achieved there will be more there ready to celebrate.

Secondly, they need to be shared and common for everyone in the group. If some team members don’t agree it is important then you will not have much success.

Finally, and usually overlooked as they need to be shared within you personally. Say it to yourself, say it out loud, do it over and over. Make them positive such as “I am going to be a success by doing X”. This will trigger your sub-conscious and Reticular Activity System (RAS) to look for opportunities to achieve your goal. Your decisions will become automatic.  This creates Motivation and Critical Decision Making at the right time and place.

 Some other data on goal setting and performance.

• 45% of Americans usually make goals.
• 17 % of Americans make goals infrequently.
• 38% of Americans never make goals.

In one study the following results were observed.

• Group One      Think about goal                     43% achievement
• Group Two      +Verbally share the goal         64% achievement
• Group Three    +Documented Plan                79% achievement

Here are some of my favorite quotes included in the article.

A goal properly set is halfway reached. - Zig Ziglar

Everybody has their own Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb. – Seth Godin

You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight. - Jim Rohn

If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much. - Jim Rohn

The greater danger for most of us isn’t that our aim is too high and miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it. – Michelangelo

Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I’ll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I’ll give you a stock clerk. - J.C. Penney

SUMMARY

Below are my 10 KEY ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL GOALS.

1.   Have one, or several.

2.   Make them big. There is little downside to having a big goal, provided you put milestones along the way.

3. Make them specific, quantifiable and time bound.

4.   Make goals that keep you moving forward, towards an objective.

5.   Ensure team alignment.

6.   Write them down.

7.   Share them with the team, your trusted network, and most important with your own sub-conscious.

8.   Create a plan to achieve.

9.   Review status along the journey. Share it too.

10. Keep going, its good to exceed the goals too.

11. Lastly, and particularly important, CELEBRATE ACHIEVEMENT.

β With great assistance from Ms. Riopel and ActionCOACH

You may notice I gave 10 steps, it doesn't hurt to exceed your targets sometimes!

If you want to know more about goals, how to define yours, and stay accountable please reach out to me directly at johndavis@actioncoach.com or fill out the form below.

GOAL TYPES AND TESTED PERFORMANCE