{"id":3766,"date":"2014-02-20T10:57:03","date_gmt":"2014-02-20T16:57:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/?p=3766"},"modified":"2023-05-10T17:08:31","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T22:08:31","slug":"we-stoped-calling-them-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/we-stoped-calling-them-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"We Stopped Calling Them &#8220;Goals&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div>\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"3766\" class=\"elementor elementor-3766\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-bb1fc64 elementor-section-full_width elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"bb1fc64\" 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-eade267\" data-id=\"eade267\" 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-e061056 elementor-widget elementor-widget-template\" data-id=\"e061056\" 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\">We Stopped Calling Them &#8220;Goals&#8221;<\/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\/2014\/02\/20\/\">\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>February 20, 2014<\/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\" itemprop=\"commentCount\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/we-stoped-calling-them-goals\/#respond\">\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-comment-dots\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M144 208c-17.7 0-32 14.3-32 32s14.3 32 32 32 32-14.3 32-32-14.3-32-32-32zm112 0c-17.7 0-32 14.3-32 32s14.3 32 32 32 32-14.3 32-32-14.3-32-32-32zm112 0c-17.7 0-32 14.3-32 32s14.3 32 32 32 32-14.3 32-32-14.3-32-32-32zM256 32C114.6 32 0 125.1 0 240c0 47.6 19.9 91.2 52.9 126.3C38 405.7 7 439.1 6.5 439.5c-6.6 7-8.4 17.2-4.6 26S14.4 480 24 480c61.5 0 110-25.7 139.1-46.3C192 442.8 223.2 448 256 448c141.4 0 256-93.1 256-208S397.4 32 256 32zm0 368c-26.7 0-53.1-4.1-78.4-12.1l-22.7-7.2-19.5 13.8c-14.3 10.1-33.9 21.4-57.5 29 7.3-12.1 14.4-25.7 19.9-40.2l10.6-28.1-20.6-21.8C69.7 314.1 48 282.2 48 240c0-88.2 93.3-160 208-160s208 71.8 208 160-93.3 160-208 160z\"><\/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-comments\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNo Comments\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<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a17d19d elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"a17d19d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div style=\"text-align:center;\u201d>\r\n<span class=\"bsf-rt-reading-time\"><span class=\"bsf-rt-display-label\" prefix=\"Reading Time\">\n\t\t<\/span> <span class=\"bsf-rt-display-time\" reading_time=\"2\"><\/span> \n\t\t<span class=\"bsf-rt-display-postfix\" 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\/explative350-qon9iplwy2x6fo7i57o8urn9w7o0lj0so81nz6o1kw.png\" title=\"explative350\" alt=\"Expletive\" 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-4a7036b8 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"4a7036b8\" 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-5a9c0196\" data-id=\"5a9c0196\" 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-72debab1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"72debab1\" 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>Discovering Words that Don&#8217;t Work<\/h3>\r\nTom Warsop III took over as CEO of The Warranty Group in 2012. Tom was a panelist at the February 19 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.executivesclub.org\/hrmac-institute\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HRMAC<\/a> event titled: <strong><em>Perspectives from the New CEO: Setting the Course<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 The panel discussion featured three CEOs who were all relatively new in their positions.\u00a0 They discussed their different approaches to positive changes that they implemented after taking the helm. In the panel discussion, Tom Warsop shared that they had to <strong>stop<\/strong> using the word &#8220;<em><strong>goal<\/strong><\/em>&#8220;.\u00a0 It was <strong><em>a word that didn&#8217;t work<\/em><\/strong> in his organization.\u00a0 Here&#8217;s <em>how<\/em> and <em>why<\/em> he changed the word.\r\n<h3><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-3803 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/explative.png\" alt=\"Four Letter Word\" width=\"200\" height=\"161\" title=\"\">The G-Word Replaced by the C-Word<\/h3>\r\nAt The Warranty Group, the road to positive change began by replacing &#8220;<em><strong>goals<\/strong><\/em>&#8221; with &#8220;<strong><em>commitments<\/em><\/strong>&#8220;.\u00a0 Before you set out to do the same, it&#8217;s important to understand the scenario and the reasons for the change in language.\r\n<h3>A Misused Tool<\/h3>\r\n<figure id=\"attachment_3767\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3767\" style=\"width: 190px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3767 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/h-jump-mso.jpg\" alt=\"Low Jump\" width=\"190\" height=\"175\" title=\"\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3767\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Preparing for the Low Jump Event?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\nTom found that the goals in the organization were traditionally set so low that anyone who showed up and demonstrated minor competency would achieve their goals and thereby get his\/her bonus. The CFO was accountable for closing the books on time.\u00a0 Nothing more.\u00a0 Another department&#8217;s top goal was maintaining clean desks. <em>&#8220;People were standing around waiting to be told what to do&#8221;<\/em> &#8211;\u00a0 once their desks were clear.\u00a0 In effect:\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Goals = Showing Up and Doing the Minimum<\/strong><\/p>\r\nSo to instill real accountability for some genuine achievements, they scrapped the word <strong>&#8220;<em>goals<\/em>&#8220;<\/strong> in favor of <strong><em>&#8220;commitments&#8221;<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 In their culture, there was no real goal achievement. The word meant <em>showing-up<\/em> and neatly going through the motions.\u00a0 Now it&#8217;s more about commitment and accountability in order to achie bigger and better things.\r\n<h3>The Moral<\/h3>\r\nEveryone knows what a goal is, right? The fact is that words mean different things to different people.\u00a0 And if the important words you&#8217;re using don&#8217;t work with your audience, it&#8217;s time for a change. If your organization runs like 5-year-old kids soccer or T-ball league where no one keeps score and everyone gets a participation trophy, your survival may depend on developing more accountability.\u00a0 If a change in language is needed to support it, at least you can create an environment where people can genuinely win.\u00a0 Otherwise the word <strong><em>goal<\/em><\/strong> can and still will work when used effectively.\r\n<h3>Epilogue<\/h3>\r\nWhile The Warranty Group stopped using the word &#8220;goal&#8221; <em>internally<\/em>, Tom Warsop did share that their goal was to be recognized as &#8220;<em>the<\/em> best place to work&#8221;.\u00a0 And if your idea of a best place to work is being bonus-ed merely for keeping your desk clean, you&#8217;ll now need to look elsewhere.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h3>Related Articles on Goal Effectiveness<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/hypothetical-hockey\/\">Hypothetical Hockey<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; Imagine a No-Goal Environment<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/attainability-in-smart-goals\/\">Attainability in SMART Goals\u00a0 &#8211; <\/a>You gotta believe<\/li>\r\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/management-by-telepathy\/\">Management By Telepathy <\/a>&#8211; Not a trendy new system<\/li>\r\n<\/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>In a recent panel discussion, Tom Warsop, CEO at The Warranty Group shared that he deemed it necessary to stop using the word &#8220;goal&#8221;.  It was a word that didn&#8217;t work in his organization.  Here&#8217;s how and why he changed things.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_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":[15,21,88,24,170,181,223],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accountability","category-achievers","category-activity-vs-achievement","category-communication-skills","category-executive-coaching","category-focus","category-goal-achievement-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/explative350.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1I2Yr-YK","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3766","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=3766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoexecutivecoaching.com\/smartleadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}