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Goal Setting: How to Define and Achieve

Getting from Here to There Without Losing Your Way

Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, Ph.D. President,

Advantage Leadership, Inc.

Goal Setting: How to Set & AchieveGetting from Here to There Without Losing Your Way

Establish concrete long- & medium- range goals to guide action

Set SMART Objectives toReach Goals

Create Tacticsto ReachObjectives

Map Targets/Timeframes to Measure Progress

Verify or Respondto Results Effectively& Efficiently

Get Successful Results

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The significant problems we face

cannot be solved at the same level of

thinking we were at when we created

them. -- Albert Einstein

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What is your History: Setting Goals? Achieving Goals?4

What are your Goal Setting Challenges Today?5

Goal Setting starts with knowing your destination

Goal Setting ends with a detailed map to get there

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VISION/VALUES

MISSION

GOALS

OBJECTIVES

TARGETS

STRATEGIES

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VISION: Destination8

Aspirational

High Level

Long Timeframe

Unifying Direction 9

NEXT?

MISSION

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Not justpretty words on a plaque

MISSION

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Mission Impact

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Importance Accidents Turnover Profitability

MISSION Important

Gallup Research 13

83% of workers believe MISSION Very Important

Companies where workers think MISSION Very Important are 5-15% more profitable than companies where workers think mission is very unimportant

Work groups with clear MISSION:

35-50% fewer accidents

MISSION-driven work groups:

15-30% less turnover

Gallup Research 14

It’s as if the employee can’t energize himself to do all he could without knowing how his job fits into the grand scheme of things

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Mission guides STRATEGIC action and decision making

“Does this action or decision move me closer to or further from

accomplishing my mission?”

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CREATE A MISSION

Action Words

Convey Clear

Meaning

Actionable Easy to Remember

Less is

More

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Strategic Plan

GOAL

OBJECTIVE

Tactic Who Metric Target

Metric

When

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ANATOMY OF A GOAL

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High Level RESULT

To Fulfill Mission

SMART

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RealisticAssignable

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What Questions

Do I Need to Ask

to Set My Goals?

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Goal Questions

What do I need to accomplish?

How will it help fulfill Mission?

What will it take?

Can I/we do it?

Is this the best way?

What else will be affected?

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3

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Strategic Goals for Decision Making

How will this help me achieve my mission?

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WHAT IS A TARGET?26

A Target is Just a Target

Sometimes Target Not Realistic27

History

Data

Research

Best Guess

How Do I Set a Target?

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Who is Accountable to fulfill Goal?

Who is Responsible to fulfill Goal? 29

Beware of (Unrealistic) STRETCH Goals 30

Beware of Too Many Goals

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Beware of Vague Unfocused Goals

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VISION/VALUES

MISSION

GOALS

OBJECTIVES

TARGETS

STRATEGIES

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Strategic Plan

GOAL

OBJECTIVE

Tactic Who Metric Target

Metric

When

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Objectives = SMART Results for Each GOAL

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Strategic Plan Drives Tactical Plan37

Strategic Plan

GOAL

OBJECTIVE

Tactic Who Metric Target

Metric

When

Tactical Plan 38

Carry Out Your Plan

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Monitor Plan Results 40

Review Results

On Track

Continue

Improve

Off Track

Root Cause

Adjust,

Modify Plan

STATUS: Track RESULTS Not Activity

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The Plan Is The Boss

542

The Plan Is The Boss

Decision Based

on Plan

Results: Root

Cause

What’s Important

Now

ACT –Don’t React

Lessons Learned

Re-Plan

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Strategic Decision Making

How will this help me achieve my mission and meet my goals and objectives?

The urgent will drive out the important if we let it.

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Remember The Babe

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Knowledge must

come through

Action

-- Sophocles

Σοφοκλῆς48

Review your experience

•How do you set Goals?

•How do you meet Goals?

Decide how to improve

• Look for trends & pitfalls

•Make a plan, track progress

Focus on continuous improvement

• Learn from every experience

•Make changes systematically with data49

Resources:

12: The Elements of Great Managing, Rodd Wagner &

James Harter, Gallup Press, 2007

Success Planning: A “How-To” Guide for Strategic

Planning, Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, TobsusPress, 2003

Conventional Wisdom: How Today’s Leaders Plan,

Perform, and Progress Like the Founding Fathers,

Rebecca Staton-Reinstein, TobsusPress, 2009

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