Goal Achievement
Roadblocks
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I once had a salesperson that was the most
frustrating person that ever worked for me.
I saw potential in him that he, himself, refused to see because of a
self-imposed barrier. He made $3,000 on
straight commission, almost to the penny, every
month. One month, I did everything but
move in with him. I big brothered him to death.
He couldn't go to the men's room without me standing guard at the
door. I'm proud to say that, in that one
month, he nearly doubled his productivity.
He made almost $6,000! The
following month he made zero dollars. The month after that he made $3,000.
I
had forgotten that his break-through had to be on his terms, not mine. When we
dug deeper, he confessed that he had never had any more money in the bank than
his father did when he was growing up.
His self-imposed barrier stopped him just short of ever earning more
than his father. Once he realized that he was setting the same standard for his
children, he went out, broke through his roadblock, and was still pushing his envelope
at last report.
The
following roadblocks might be impeding your progress without you being fully
aware of their presence.
Success is feared: Many people are much more familiar with
mediocrity than they are with success, and therefore lack the drive to pursue
goals. Fear of success is natural if you
have little experience with it.
Goals are not understood or
seem unattainable: If this is the case, examine
your own presentation of the goals to the team members. Did you take the time to think through, from
their point of view, their possible reaction to these new goals? Did you break the goals down into doable
segments for each person? How clear was
your communication in the presentation?
The
effort doesn’t appear to have adequate rewards: When rewards don’t seem forthcoming or
consistent with the level of effort required, it’s time for the leader to start
selling to the team. Actually, the time for selling is when the goals are being
established.
Procedures for goal
achievement are too rigid: Flexibility is one sign of a
confident and creative leader. Too many
people impose rigid structure on their organizations because they lack basic
confidence in their own abilities and the abilities of their team. Focusing on results instead of methods will
open the door for your people to contribute more of their own originality.
Try
these techniques to get your people on the road to goal achievement:
- Include the whole team in the goal attainment picture.
- Break down goals into manageable, doable increments.
- Frame the goals so that the rewards are clear.
“Goals are all
found upstream.”
