5
The Power of Roles and Goals

We have a friend who is the CEO of a well-known firm located in the Western United States. He is about 62 years old; we will call him Gary. Three years ago, he attended a three-hour workshop with his Young Presidents Organization (YPO) chapter.

He came up during the break (after starting on his vision and goals) to relate that during the past four years, he had felt like he had lost his edge. He was not making clear decisions as he had in the past. He also felt as if his passion for the business had all but disappeared. He had seriously considered turning over the entire business to his son.

After the first 90 minutes of the workshop, he excitedly told us that he had experienced a complete change in mindset. It was the act of starting on his vision and goals that reignited the flame he once had. He was excited and emotional when he commented, “I haven’t felt this way for at least four years. I feel focused and see a clear path forward.” We told him that what he was experiencing was just the beginning. We invited him to commit to finishing his vision and goals in the next two weeks. We also invited him to be consistent with the new habit of pre-week planning for the next three months and then call us with an update.

Three months later, Gary called us. He was excited and spoke very fast when he said, “The last three months have been some of the best of my life. I feel like I have my business edge back, my mind is clear and focused, and my personal life is as good as it has ever been. The last three months have been some of my most productive months in years!” He related that the first thing he had done was develop a vision that kindled his internal flame. He had realized that he was burned out and had lost his “why” for being in business. Developing his vision was the starting point to rediscover his “why.”

During that call, Gary went on to explain that in conjunction with his vision, he had specifically written down one goal during the workshop that had a huge impact on him. During the conference, we had invited everyone to come up with a specific reading goal for the year, because, in our studies, we have found that reading and success are strongly correlated (either listening to an audiobook or actual reading is fine). Because of this correlation, we always invite people to come up with a specific reading goal. One of Gary’s pivotal goals was to average reading at least one leadership book per month. It was interesting to hear him say that four years ago, when he started to lose his edge, he had also quit reading books. He used to be an avid reader, but for some reason, he had stopped. It was during the workshop that he realized he needed to start reading again.

He incorporated the Q2 activity of reading into his new goals, and doing so drove him to pick up the habit again. He commented on how that one goal was responsible for a massive improvement in his motivation, leadership, and decision-making. How much easier was it for Gary to get back on track after he identified what mattered most, developed his vision and goals, and then scheduled those priorities rather than succumbing to both task saturation and procrastination? He knew things like reading were important but, to use a pilot term, they had simply slipped out of his crosscheck.

We have heard stories similar to Gary’s many times over the years—the truth is that we have all let important things slip out of our crosscheck at one time or another. The real power comes when people are willing and disciplined enough to finish their vision and their roles and goals and do pre-week planning consistently. Imagine the impact on performance and productivity when members of a team each have their own personal vision and well-written roles and goals for the year that keep them laser-focused!

Getting Started

The entire goal-setting process begins with gaining clarity on what matters most to you this year. We invite you to ask yourself these questions introspectively:

What would I like to accomplish this year?

What are my targets this year, both personally and professionally?

How do I specifically measure success in the different roles of my life?

Are any of those objectives or thoughts written in the form of a goal? If so, how often do I look at them?

These questions help people think about what matters most and where to direct their energy. Les Brown, author and motivational speaker, once said, “If you set goals and go after them with all the determination you can muster, your gifts will take you places that will amaze you.” Setting goals correctly is so important to achieving your vision because it shifts the focus to your goals rather than your fears.

Everyone reading this will have a different starting point. No matter where yours is, your vision and goals can evoke a wide range of emotions. It is essential to follow the process to get the results we continue to discuss.

Think back to the dream home analogy we shared with you in Chapter 3; once you finish the home design, it can be built one brick at a time. Similarly, the pursuit of your vision is done one goal at a time, and it may take weeks, months, years, or even a lifetime to reach it. Even though some goals may take longer to accomplish, when you are pursuing your vision, you will likely feel and see an immediate shift in your internal motivation and outward productivity. Your vision provides direction and purpose, whereas the goals are the key milestones you strive for to make your vision a reality. The vision and goals come together harmoniously to create an inspired path forward.

We have observed that in many organizations, goals are talked about often but rarely used in a way that improves execution or that gets great results. More often than not, organizational goals are often missing key elements that would dramatically increase both performance and productivity. When goals are written and used correctly, they become something managers and employees can pursue with a strong focus and lead to significant improvements in performance and productivity.

Think back to our discussion about the archer in Chapter 2; it makes sense that to hit the bullseye, an archer first needs to identify their target. Once they have done so, they can aim and shoot. Individually and as part of a team, you too need to be able to identify your bullseye or target (Q2 areas of focus).

This is a good reminder for all of us that our focus determines our reality!

During the past nine years, we have researched the power and effectiveness of goals within the organizations we have worked with. We often do a pre- and post-assessment to measure results. One of the reasons for increased productivity in the organizations we have worked with is because of this goal-setting process. Roles and goals empower a person or team to identify the Q2 activities and then convert those Q2 areas of focus into well-written goals.

The other fascinating part of our organizational research is that we discovered that people are around 90 percent more likely to accomplish something if they have a well-written goal and plan. Imagine that: whether a person is focused on their health, a relationship, a revenue target, a sales goal, a production number, or any other important business target, they are 90 percent more likely to accomplish something if it is clearly written in the form of a goal! However, that statistic is only applied when the goal-setting process is followed and done correctly.

We have also discovered that less than 10 percent of employees have clearly written goals, and 83 percent of managers feel that their team members could do a better job developing and executing their goals.

This performance and execution gap is an excellent place for leaders to focus their attention. They can mentor their team members and give them the training to develop the big three skillset, which will almost always lead to a higher-performing team. We have seen firsthand that this is a skillset people can learn through practice and repetition. Like the Division I football coach we talked about earlier in the book, a manager cannot be frustrated with their team members if they haven’t helped them develop the skillset in the first place.

A manager also needs to understand why a negative stigma is sometimes attached to goals and why people might be hesitant to develop their goals. One of the questions we asked people in our research is Why haven’t you set goals in the past? We got a wide range of responses, but many of the same answers showed up repeatedly. Below are a few of the common reasons why many people don’t set goals or are hesitant to put in the effort:

It is something they never learned how to do in their home, high school, or university.

Immediate accountability comes with a written goal, and sometimes that can be a scary thing depending on what the goal is.

Often, they have a fear of failure with written goals because once written, they become real.

Many recognize goals are important, but they simply haven’t made the time to do it because they procrastinate or are too busy.

The majority of these concerns are the result of a lack of an actual process—which isn’t their fault. These are all easily addressed when someone follows the simple flow outlined in the next chapter.

This goal-setting process goes back to the do what matters most mindset and skillset. When you align your goals with your vision, you are scheduling your priorities rather than prioritizing your schedule. It also does not matter what your current starting point is; in the spirit of good, better, best, this skillset will help anyone improve their performance and productivity from where they are today!

John and Bella

We have a friend named John who is an accountant and has several children. He has been successful in many ways and has always had a seemingly great life. However, we were talking one day, and he commented that he felt like he was in a lull. He admitted he had done well financially and accomplished many of the things he set out to do. Yet, he felt as if he could accomplish more and do more than he currently was. We asked him about goals, and he responded, “I have never really set personal goals. I’ve thought about a lot of things I want, but I have never written personal goals.” We talked about roles and goals for a few minutes, and John decided to give it a try. That year, he developed five specific goals—just one for each role.

One of his goals was to run a 5k in less than thirty minutes before July 30th. Another, for his role in the accounting firm, was related to achieving a financial performance target; this target was a big jump from where his performance had been the previous year. To his amazement, he accomplished all five of his goals by the end of the year. In his words, he said, “I would not have done a single one of these five things had it not been for my written goals and pre-week planning.” This experience made him a believer in the power and focus of roles and goals. The next year, he added more goals to each role, and he has continued to see significant growth in each area of his life. It took him 40 years, but he finally sat down and identified his Q2 areas of focus that mattered most to him. For our accountant friend, goals took the impossible and made it possible. He designated five targets, and he landed the arrow right in the bullseye for each one.

One of the frequent comments we receive from people is how roles and goals have helped in every area of their lives. In addition to personal and professional benefits, people often share stories of what happened when they shared this process with their children, their spouse, or other friends. To illustrate the point of how far-reaching roles and goals are, we will share an example of Rob’s daughter Bella.

Each December, Rob’s kids sit down and develop their roles and goals for the upcoming year. When they finish their goals, Rob and his wife reward each child with a fun gift or activity. One of Rob’s daughters, Bella, was 11 years old when she came up with the role of author. Rob was surprised because she had never really talked about being an author. It was interesting to get a glimpse into her evolving mindset when she started to think outside the box.

After she finished her goals, Rob helped her make a few adjustments so that they were well-worded, and she was set up for success. In the role of author, she came up with the goal: Write a children’s book by December 20th. Rob complimented Bella on setting a goal that would be fun and stretch her. A couple of months later, on a beautiful spring afternoon, they sat together on their lawn to review her goals. When they read that particular goal, she commented that she wasn’t exactly sure how to go about it or where to start. So, they decided to write a book together as a fun father/ daughter project.

They came up with an action plan of who would do what by when. Bella would do certain things, such as come up with the words, questions, and basic ideas for an illustration. Rob would find the illustrator and correspond back and forth to finalize the illustrations.

They came up with the title A–Z: The Best in You and Me. The idea was to go through each letter in the alphabet and choose a catchy word associated with that letter—for example, A = Attitude, B = Beautiful, C = Courage, and so on (you can see the other letters at BellasBook.net). They also decided that Bella would come up with a little quote associated with that word to put at the top of each page, and at the bottom of each page, they would add a question to stimulate a meaningful conversation between parent and child. Their vision was to create a book that would help parents or grandparents engage in conversation with their children or grandchildren. You can see an example in Figure 13 of “Beautiful.” The question at the bottom of the page is What are some beautiful things about you?

During this process of creating the book, they encountered a few snags. For example, they had to go through 150 applications to choose the illustrator. The design of both Bella’s book and the website dedicated to it had some hiccups, but Bella stuck with it—the goal kept her focused.

Eight months later, everything was complete. In mid-December, Rob and Bella were in a mad dash to finish the book in time to meet her goal. On December 20th, after a chaotic scramble to get the first copies printed, Rob and Bella stood on their back porch, holding the completed book in their hands (as shown in Figure 14).

Figure 13. A page from Bella’s book

Figure 14. Bella’s completed book

Since then, people from all over the world have read Bella’s book. She made enough money from its sales to pay for soccer and dance and to start saving for college. More importantly, parents have shared stories with Bella about some great conversations they have had with their children while reading her book.

The reason we share this is that it all started with the roles and goals process. Bella came up with the role of author and the accompanying goal to Write a children’s book by December 20th.

But what if she had not written that goal? A–Z: The Best in You and Me would not exist. Bella wouldn’t have met some of the people she has met, she wouldn’t have made that money, and she certainly would not have had some of the cool experiences she had along the journey.

The whole point is that if an 11-year-old can do it, anybody can do it!

Wrap Up

There is an old saying that goes, “Action without planning is wishful thinking.”

You will feel a wide array of exciting emotions when you go through this process of identifying the goals that will help you shift your time and focus to Q2 and what matters most.

Imagine how great it would be to have your entire team focus on their roles and goals and what matters most in their job. Employees who go through this process tend to be the ones recognized for thinking outside the box and contributing to the team. They find new and better ways to do their jobs, serve the customer, and grow the organization. These are the types of results organizations should expect when their team members follow the process and do what matters most!

As the Cheshire Cat in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland points out, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”¹⁹

When you arm yourself with your vision and goals, you will have the foundational plan so that you are extremely focused on what matters most. You know where you are going, and you have a plan to get there.

Now, let’s get started on your roles and goals!