A Lesson in Goal Setting

Goal Orientation: Setting and attaining specific and challenging goals for oneself.

Initiative:  Initiating tasks and taking on new challenges.

Effort:  Exerting oneself to complete tasks successfully and achieve goals.

Persistence:  Enduring in one’s tasks despite challenges or difficulties.

Follow Through: Ensuring that one’s promises are realized in behavior; doing what one said one would do.

In order to really develop leadership potential, it is important to continuously push yourself toward setting and attaining goals directed toward your development¹.  Setting and attaining goals may also help you maintain balance in your work and personal life, as well as improve your time management and organizational skills.  The SMART method is a goal setting method that ensures that the goals you set are effective and achievable.  You can apply this method to any goal that you make by asking yourself the following questions.

In addition to applying the SMART method, it is important that you have several other competencies to ensure the completion of goals².  For instance, initiative is crucial to setting challenging goals frequently.  Effort must be exerted to work toward achieving the goal.  Persistence is important to push through and stick with the goal, even if it becomes difficult to achieve.  Finally, follow-through is important to make sure that the goal is successfully completed.

The SMART Method

Specific – Is the goal specific and clear to understand rather than being vague?

• For example, “I want to work harder” is too vague; “I want to spend at least three hours a day on homework” is much more clear and specific.

Measurable – Can you measure your progress on the goal and whether or not you achieved it?

• In the above example, you cannot tell what “harder” means – does this mean one minute more than you are doing now or five hours a week?  The second goal is measurable; you can actually measure whether or not you spend three hours every day on homework.

Action-Oriented – Does the goal give a specific behavior or activity you can perform?

• For example, “I want to be good at sports” does not give a specific action that you can take to achieve the goal.  However, “I want to be able to score under par in an 18-hole golf game” gives a specific action that you can take to achieve your goal.

Reasonable – Is it reasonable to expect that you can achieve this goal, or are you overextending yourself?

• In the above example, if you’ve never played golf before, it may be too optimistic to think that you can achieve this goal.  You may have a difficult time learning the sport and find that it takes more time and effort than you initially expected.  Perhaps rather than saying you want to be able to score under par, you could reword the goal to say that you want to be able to score par on one hole.

Time-Based – Does the goal give a specific timeline for when it should be accomplished or how much time needs to be put into it?

• For example, “I want to learn how to play golf so I can participate in an 18-hole golf tournament in five weeks” gives a specific end to the goal.  If there is a timeline for the goal, it will help you ensure that you are making satisfactory progress on it.  If at the end of four weeks you still do not know how to play golf, you should be concerned and really push through toward completing your goal.

References

1. Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990). A theory of goal setting and task performance. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
2. Phillips, J. M., & Gully, S. M. (1997). Role of goal orientation, ability, need for achievement, and locus of control in the self-efficacy and goal-setting process. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82(5), 792-802.
   
   
   ~ Contributed by Misty Bennett

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