Leading the Unleadable by Alan Willett

Author:Alan Willett
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: AMACOM
Published: 2017-03-21T16:00:00+00:00

Seven Ways to Create Compelling Goals

1. Start with the “big why.” Why is your goal important to you? Even more important, why is it important to your clients? Why is it important to your employees? You can set goals for a period of time, for a project, or to set the stage for creating a new organization. Whatever you set a goal for, start with the big why!

2. Make your goals about going somewhere inspiring. Too often, managers put forth goals about “not doing” something. We are going to “stop providing bad service” is not nearly as compelling as “customers will call other people to tell them about the service we provided them.”

3. Be fearless in your challenge. Outright impossible goals are depressing; however, goals that are outrageously hard and very worth doing are inspiring. Leaders are too often anxious in setting hard goals. They want to make the workplace fun. They may fear attrition or complaining. Fear not. People want to climb the metaphorical mountains that are important. They will invest in the leader who believes they are capable of the difficult journey.

4. Create goals that are worth the journey. Goals that are worth the journey are the perfect complement to being fearless about the challenge you set forth. The goal may be difficult. It is possible that we may fail to meet the full extent of the goal. Nonetheless, with great goals, everyone knows it is worth the journey. They know that they will personally be better for it because they were part of the journey. The famous goal to “put a man on the moon by the end of this decade” was hard, was exciting, and to the United States, was worth the journey.

5. Work on language that will create visceral emotion. Think about emotions. How can you state your goal so that it will evoke an emotion that people understand, care about, and will remember? Instead of saying, “We need to ensure that we deliver on time” say “We are the exemplars of our industry. Our customers will know that we know more, care more, do more about delivering great value to their needs than anyone else ever can.”

6. Leave room for people to take their own meaning and ownership. Be ambiguous in details on purpose. If you provide too much detail, it leaves no room for the imagination to take hold. It doesn’t leave room for a dialogue. Steve Jobs once told a team that he wanted the “buttons to look so good on the screen that people would want to lick them.” It is visceral, exciting, and worthy. It is also so ambiguous that it leaves room for people to be inventive.

7. Use your goal to engage in dialogue. People often complain about ambiguous goals. But that is the secret ingredient to great goal statements. When a goal is put forward and there is no dialogue, there is no way to truly know if it was understood or even heard! When teams engage in

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