A shared goal is a closer one

So now that we have established our clear goals for the year, we need to work the plan.

Dreams and goals are very different – dreams are exactly that (for me the apartment in Ravello). Goals are what we intend to achieve.

The key word here is intention. It is amazing how what we intend becomes reality as we focus on that. As my golf instructor said recently: “The key problem with your golf is that you have no goals.”

How right he was; and I know the power of setting goals. When I did set myself a golf goal, I immediately dropped my handicap by six points – mind you it had a long way to drop and still has – but the reminder was what I needed. That we get what we intend!

Goals are the realistic outcomes we can expect from the work and planning we put in to achieving them.

One of the many reasons I love working with CEOs through TEC (The Executive Connection) is that as a group we share our goals and therefore become, in the best way, accountable for achieving them.

Until I started my role as a TEC chair, I always felt too vulnerable to share goals; but TEC creates a safe and challenging place to do that.

Regardless of the economic climate, we can always set goals that are achievable and realistic but create enough challenge for ourselves and our businesses.

I wonder how many CEOs actually share their goals for their business with their teams? I wonder how many businesses would benefit from that, particularly if those people were incentivised to do so?

Recently I went into a major retail store and the salesperson actually suggested I would get better value somewhere else. Sounds like a business with no shared goals to me!

It seems that in business in Australia, we react to tough times often in a reactive rather than pro-active way. At griffin+row we are maintaining our spend on PR, merchandising, and product development.

By outsourcing every part of our business we have no unnecessary overheads to maintain and this means we can keep investing in the essentials of our business and keep our prices to a very affordable level.

We have set goals for our business and are working the plan to achieve them. We know that success is not guaranteed, but persistence will ensure the best opportunity to achieve what we set out to do.

We don’t have to enroll staff, but we do need to enroll our suppliers. We do this by letting them know our plans, so that they too can be excited by their potential sales to us!

Sharing goals is a great way to keep our teams and alliances onboard with us – win/win is the best way I know of achieving business goals. And I think at this challenged time in business, the win/win attitude is more powerful than the well and truly discarded win/lose philosophy of Wall Street!

To read more Marcia Griffin blogs, click here.

 

Marcia’s latest book, High Heeled Success (pictured right), and is a frank account of building a business from a solitary sales person to a multi-million dollar business with 4700 sales consultants around Australia and New Zealand. Contact Marcia to purchase. Marcia’s latest venture is skin care company griffin+row.