{"id":1621,"date":"2012-04-24T10:48:32","date_gmt":"2012-04-24T15:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/?p=1621"},"modified":"2024-05-27T12:44:38","modified_gmt":"2024-05-27T17:44:38","slug":"attainability-in-smart-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/attainability-in-smart-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Attainability in SMART Goals"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div>\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1621\" class=\"elementor elementor-1621\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-a0cbfb4 elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"a0cbfb4\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-e1dab25\" data-id=\"e1dab25\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fd27a77 elementor-widget elementor-widget-template\" data-id=\"fd27a77\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"template.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-template\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"section\" data-elementor-id=\"12411\" class=\"elementor elementor-12411\" data-elementor-post-type=\"elementor_library\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-1255d61 elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-content-middle elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"1255d61\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-66 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6264de3\" data-id=\"6264de3\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61125fc elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-title elementor-page-title elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"61125fc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-title.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Attainability in SMART Goals<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2c1117e elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-post-info\" data-id=\"2c1117e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"post-info.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-inline-items elementor-icon-list-items elementor-post-info\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-fcfa45b elementor-inline-item\" itemprop=\"author\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/author\/lbwebmaster\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-far-user-circle\" viewBox=\"0 0 496 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M248 104c-53 0-96 43-96 96s43 96 96 96 96-43 96-96-43-96-96-96zm0 144c-26.5 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href=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/2012\/04\/24\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-calendar\" viewBox=\"0 0 448 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M12 192h424c6.6 0 12 5.4 12 12v260c0 26.5-21.5 48-48 48H48c-26.5 0-48-21.5-48-48V204c0-6.6 5.4-12 12-12zm436-44v-36c0-26.5-21.5-48-48-48h-48V12c0-6.6-5.4-12-12-12h-40c-6.6 0-12 5.4-12 12v52H160V12c0-6.6-5.4-12-12-12h-40c-6.6 0-12 5.4-12 12v52H48C21.5 64 0 85.5 0 112v36c0 6.6 5.4 12 12 12h424c6.6 0 12-5.4 12-12z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text elementor-post-info__item elementor-post-info__item--type-date\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time>April 24, 2012<\/time>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item elementor-repeater-item-9c8288a elementor-inline-item\" 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postfix=\"mins\"><\/span><\/span>\r\n<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-70a0327\" data-id=\"70a0327\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-228f411 elementor-widget elementor-widget-theme-post-featured-image elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"228f411\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"theme-post-featured-image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/elementor\/thumbs\/c-pit-qon9jd3voxtchx9dbztx33psqug6xym33gcsz3p79c.jpg\" title=\"c-pit\" alt=\"Cockpit\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5939fc03 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5939fc03\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-206da424\" data-id=\"206da424\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-79e186e4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"79e186e4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3><strong>The Ivory Tower Approach<\/strong><\/h3><p>You&#8217;ve likely experienced &#8220;The Ivory Tower Approach&#8221; to goal communication.\u00a0 This is where management hands down <strong><em>your<\/em><\/strong> new goals with little or no discussion.\u00a0 The expectations are dictated with no questions asked.\u00a0 The underling <strong>assumption<\/strong> is that since the goals originate from a position of authority, they will be instantly, automatically and whole heartedly embraced by all followers.\u00a0 Let&#8217;s take a closer look at this assumption.<\/p><h3><strong>Goal Setting as A Process<\/strong><\/h3><p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-6156\" src=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/c-pit-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Cockpit\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/c-pit-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/c-pit-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/c-pit.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Imagine you are a commercial airline pilot responsible for the safe delivery of a plane full of passengers to their scheduled destination.<\/p><p>The successful outcome of your flight depends on precise completion of a series of proven, sequential processes. What happens when you alter a sequence? What if you changed the process and retracted the landing gear while the plane was still on the ground? You would need a very good reason to jeopardize the outcome of the flight while dropping a $45 million aircraft and 200 paying passengers to the pavement. Why do I offer this seemingly silly example? It&#8217;s because I routinely see businesses shortcut or abandon their critical processes in similar fashion. And then they wonder: What happened?<\/p><h3><strong><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-6158 size-full alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/smart-criteria.jpg\" alt=\"SMART Goal Criteria Expanded\" width=\"156\" height=\"268\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/smart-criteria.jpg 156w, https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/smart-criteria-87x150.jpg 87w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 156px) 100vw, 156px\" \/>SMARTer Leadership<\/strong><\/h3><p>Similar to preparing for airliner take-off, short-cutting any single element of the goal setting process will also jeopardize your outcome. An often overlooked element is &#8220;<strong><em>attainable<\/em><\/strong>&#8220;. Have you ever worked in an organization where most everyone believed the\u00a0goals were unattainable? What happened to your commitment? What was the level of frustration? What happened to achievement? Yet how often do we see unrealistic goals handed down from above without concern for buy-in?<\/p><p>So, how should we apply what we know about <strong><em>process<\/em><\/strong> and <strong><em>attainability<\/em><\/strong> to improve execution?<\/p><ul><li>Effective goal setting for your critical initiatives should be treated as a process. That is, a sequence of steps or events that produce a desired outcome. Ignoring any of the eight elements above will compromise your likelihood for achievement.<\/li><li>To support the critical element of attainability, consider the words of Henry Ford: &#8220;Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right.&#8221;<\/li><\/ul><p>As a leader, ask yourself: How strong are your people&#8217;s beliefs in your desired outcomes? Who is responsible for instilling those beliefs? Neglecting to assure goal attainability can have the same grounding effect as retracting your landing gear prior to take-off.<\/p><p>When achievement wanes from lack of commitment, we can lose faith in the process and possibly dismiss goal setting as an unrealistic practice. We then throw the baby out with the bath water. How often do we then start some new initiative without understanding what went wrong with the old one?<\/p><p>Attainability is just one of eight critical elements for your pre-flight checklist for achievement. What short-cuts might you be taking any with the other seven criteria? How are your outcomes being affected?\u00a0 Are you ever guilty of retracting your landing gear before take-off by cheating the goal setting process?<\/p><p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-6159 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/belly.jpg\" alt=\"Landing Gear Retracted\" width=\"473\" height=\"200\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/belly.jpg 473w, https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/belly-150x63.jpg 150w, https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/belly-300x127.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 473px) 100vw, 473px\" \/><\/p><h3><strong>Are You a Dictator or a Collaborator?<br \/><\/strong><\/h3><p>Formal leadership is about<strong> getting results through others<\/strong>. Collaboration and understanding motivation are critical leadership skills.\u00a0 As a leader, isn&#8217;t it your responsibility to assure that your followers buy-in to your goals?<\/p><p>How would your followers rate you when it comes to:<\/p><ul><li>Understanding Motivation?<\/li><li>Setting and Planning the Achievement of SMART Goals?<\/li><li>Collaboration?<\/li><li>Inspiring Commitment?<\/li><\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>If you could improve these critical leadership skills, how much more might your team achieve?<\/p><p>As a leader, organizational goal setting is something you do <strong><em>with<\/em><\/strong> your team, not <strong><em>to<\/em><\/strong> them.<\/p><h4><strong>Related Articles:<\/strong><\/h4><ul><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/hypothetical-hockey\/\">Hypothetical Hockey<\/a><\/strong>: The Goal-less Game Scenario<\/li><li>This post was written as a rebuttal to a Harvard Business Review article titled <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.hbr.org\/cs\/2012\/04\/the_folly_of_stretch_goals.html\" data-cke-saved-href=\"http:\/\/blogs.hbr.org\/cs\/2012\/04\/the_folly_of_stretch_goals.html?cm_mmc=npv-_-LINKEDIN-_-FOLLY_OF_STRETCH-_-042312&amp;goback=.gde_3044917_member_109882575\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Folly of Stretch Goals<\/a>,<\/li><li><strong><a title=\"Delegation and the Power of \u201cWhy\u201d\" href=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/delegation-and-the-power-of-why\/\">Delegation and the Power of \u201cWhy\u201d<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 Tips for better buy-in<\/li><\/ul>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you find that Goal Setting is a needless, futile,  frustrating exercise? Before you throw the baby out with the bathwater, look in the mirror and ask is it &#8220;the tactic&#8221; or &#8220;the leadership&#8221;? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6156,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[23,26,223,68],"tags":[39,140,142],"class_list":["post-1621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-attitude-development","category-employee-engagement","category-goal-achievement-2","category-team-leadership","tag-linkedin","tag-smart-goals","tag-stretch-goals"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/c-pit.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1I2Yr-q9","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}