Having tangible leadership goals is essential to any leader. Goal setting is an important part of creating a leadership development plan and I personally practice it as a way of life. The way it works in praxis is that once I have a vision that I want to materialise, I create SMART goals for what I want to achieve. Then I get into action.

Research has shown that only 5% of people write down their goals. The good news is that 95% of written SMART goals come to fruition. So if you yearn for success, creating written goals is a very wise move.

SMART Leadership Goals

It is a really good way to create systematic success in your life. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time bound. Lets explore that further.

S-specific. Make your goals as specific as possible.

M-measurable. A part of creating a specific goal is to create a measurement.

A-attainable. Create realistic goals. Just be mindful of the fact that “realistic” is a different concept for each and every one of us.

R-relevant. The goal needs to be relevant to your life and for the vision you hold for your life.

T-time bound. You need to know when you have achieved your goal.

Leadership Goals for Action

You can create smart leadership goals when you need to get into action. Whenever I feel stuck or unable to move forward with something, I use goal setting to get me into action.

I have said that goal setting is like dragging your dreams out of the skies, looking them in the eye and saying to them: “Dream – you shall now become my reality.”

Lets take an example to explain how it works in praxis. A leader who has been making good income for awhile has been saying to herself, that she must start investing and creating funds for the future. She has never written down her goals when it comes to investment. Her SMART leadership goal could look like this:

My goal is to invest 12.000 dollars in the next 12 months (specific, relevant). I will start this month by investing 1.000 dollars and continue to invest 1.000 dollars on the fifth day of each month (measurable, time bound). At the end of the 12 month period I will have invested 12.000 dollars (attainable) and reached my goal of investing 12.000 dollars. By using this method, there are 95% chances of her reaching her goal within the time she has set for herself.

Whether your goals have to do with finances, health, living conditions, communications, hobbies, spiritual life or your contribution to society – the same rules apply. Start by defining your vision. What do you want? Then create a sustainable and time bound plan to make it happen.

Systematic Success Tips

• Choose to be around people who inspire you to grow bigger wings and fly!
• Believe in your vision and in your goals. Be mindful of Henry Fords words when he said: “Whether you believe you can or you can’t – either way you are right.”
• Rejoice in the small victories and celebrate the big wins. It is equally important to enjoy the voyage as it is to enjoy the destination.
• Remember to be grateful and trust in your intuition.