…evaluate and monitor each step, inspired by timescales
Individuals set goals. Teams and institutions set goals too. Often times, it’s not about the goals you set. It’s always about how you execute the goals you set, on your journey. I have had opportunity to meet individuals, teams and C-Suite Level Generals who make decisions for institutions.
In all my meetings, I find a common denominator. People and institutions have goals but are almost always on the shelves. The discussions around their actions are that things change so fast and, in an attempt, to fix issues when they come, people shelve long term goals in order to deal with operational matters. As they tend to focus on short term operational issues, set goals begin to lose value to leadership development.
In view of this, I often share the basic approach to executing set goals. Write your goals down. Prioritize them, strategically. Do not lump all your goals together. Treat every goal item as a project. If you can multi-task, do! More importantly, generate scorecards for each goal as per the SMART or SMARTER Tool.
Prioritizing goals is very essential to the execution process because goals compete for the scarce resources available. Prioritizing also shapes and reorganizes your plan of action to motivate you and your journey. Goals must be accompanied by actual commitment. Actual commitment in leadership is defined as the leadership pledge.
True leaders make pledges and they deliver on every word. It is a shame that modern organizational leaders and leaders of nation-states make empty pledges and promises to win the heads and hearts of innocent followers. If populism drives your goals, you are bound to have execution crises because your goals may lack a binder. Good leaders always focus their energies on their goals.
Sometimes they visualize the process on every step until success. Evaluate and monitor each step, inspired by timescales. When you set the goals and write them down, you’ll always be kept in check. If you prepare your activities, remember your checklist to guide the execution process. Executing each goal also requires good and continuous feedback. There are many feedback tools applied to measure performance in the short term, medium term to long term execution phases.
Dashboards, scorecards and performance management reviews for example will always hold the base. Teams and institutions use tools to execute goals by measuring indicators and milestones. Critical execution tools have led institutions to demystify, reexamine and refocus goals directed at execution. It is always great to sometimes combine feedback tools. A simple way to track execution process is to activate feedback tools.
Any feedback tool used in leadership development is modeled towards eliciting criticisms for continuous improvement. Leaders must learn to be open minded about receiving feedback. Tapping into your immediate circles for feedback is also encouraged. To execute your goals and track performance, talk to your coach.
If you don’t have one, get a trusted Line Leader or someone who understands your journey for a progressive feedback. Involve Coaches and Mentors for a good feedback as you progress on goal execution. The next episode will guide the object of goal setting and execution of goals with the full concept of Mentoring.
This is Leadership!
