4 Tips For Setting Your 2014 Goals

Hopefully you’ve already started thinking about and planning for your 2014 goals, but if you haven’t, it’s not too late. Here are four practical tips to help you get going.

1. Be realistic.

When setting goals, leaders must walk a careful line. If you’re too optimistic, a few months into the year your team may quickly realize that there’s no way they’ll achieve such unrealistic goals, so they lose their excitement and motivation. On the other hand, if you set goals with a glass-half-empty attitude, never wanting to really commit to anything, your team will spend the year lost and unattached to your vision.

When you’re realistic, you approach your goal setting with balance. You have a handle on what’s really going on inside your organization, so you can quickly connect key initiatives to your goals. Then, you apply your strategy and action steps to these initiatives. The results are exciting and realistic goals that both inspire and challenge your team.

2. Don’t go it alone.

If you’re part of a team, why would you set team goals by yourself? Gather your team together and be prepared to inspire them in their goal-setting. Have your opinions ready to share, but facilitate and organize the team to strategize on “our” goals.

3. Set benchmarks.

Identify where you need to be throughout the year to stay on track with your goals. I’d recommend setting quarterly as well as “halftime” targets.

4. Keep a scoreboard.

I’ve talked before about the importance of knowing the score. Make sure you’re measuring what’s important to your business. Then, make a scoreboard that’s available for everyone to see and understand.

Now is the time to think about where you want to be at the end of 2014 and how you plan to get there. The results will be well worth your time and effort.


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