Goal Setting versus Goal Achievement

As a Coach and a Sales Manager I enjoy working with goal achievers.  They excite me and make me better as a coach and a manager.  I desire to be around them and welcome opportunities to conduct joint sales calls.  There are goal achievers in every office and you know them immediately when you meet them or you know them by their incredible productivity.  These special people take the goals that have been given to them or that they have set for themselves very seriously.  It’s a matter of pride and professionalism to achieve their goals.   They are like Samurai warriors who live the code of “death before dishonor”. 

Goal Setters on the other hand are also great people but all they do is talk about what they are going to do and never get to it.  They are experts in coming up with excuses about why they fail and are unable to achieve the goals they set for themselves or the goals assigned to them.     My goal in working with Goal Setters is to help move from setting goals to achieving them by helping  them find something they can master and achieve success.  My goal is not to manage them up the talent curve but to help them find the right job because a desire to succeed and to achieve goals cannot be taught.  You either have it or do not. 

There is one thing that really impresses me about Goal Setters and I wish that more goal achievers could do the same.  Goal Setters write the most professional business plans you will ever see.  They are packed with statistics, graphs, planned activities by day, month and year, a financial analysis, marketing budget, key strategies and all the details.  It is very impressive professionally bound book that looks absolutely beautiful on their credenza.  Goal Achievers could learn a thing or two about writing business plans and Goal Setter could learn a lot about getting from behind their desk and making their goals a reality..

So, what does it say about a person who, when given a goal, accepts the goal, internalizes the goal, takes complete ownership of the goal and actually goes out and achieves double or triple the original goal given to them?

Let me tell you what that says:

1.  This is a person who will not be limited by another person or personalities, internal politics or an adversarial market place.  You see, you cannot tell this person what they cannot achieve, they will tell you what they will achieve. Nor will they allow anyone or anything to limit their potential. If you give them a goal of five houses to sell, they will raise it to 10, and if you say 10, they will say 20. The reason for this conflict is because they know that no one can judge their heart or measure their desire and intensity to achieve their own view of success.  Moreover, it is important to them that they and they alone set the boundaries for their success.   You want someone like this on your team whose pride drives them to succeed.

2.  This is a person who will not be lulled into complacency or influence by negative people. Just because others have become complacent and content with their productivity they will never be satisfied.  They refuse to place limits on their success or achievements and they refuse to hear the stories of others about why they cannot achieve success.  While others have become negative and have given up on the company they work for, the support they receive and perhaps even their own goals, they refuse to be infected by their negativity.   Goal achievers observe this behavior and note it as a destination that they will never see.  Goal achievers choose to be inspired and focused.  They like being pumped up and excited about achieving their goals and being successful.  They have made a decision and are all in.  They do not have time for negative people and failure is not an option.

3.  Finally, this is a person who wants to win and realizes that it is a daily contest. Like a nuclear reactor they are always full of energy, never tired, and ready to go. They eat, sleep, and drink, selling themselves, not the product or service, but themselves and making new contacts. Their mind is always turning; they wake up in the middle of night writing down new ideas and thoughts for tomorrow. Failure is not an option to them so they constantly practice, drill, and rehearse to capitalize on every opportunity. They are always ready for the next challenge because the word “problem” is not a part of their vocabulary. 

There is burning deep within them a fire so hot that only the Sun may be able to compete. A thirst for success and recognition that is unquenchable. They want to win, they refuse to lose. They will never give up trying. Revisit your goals, and examine your results so far and ask yourself are you doing what it takes to win every day.  Are you a goal setter or a goal achiever?

Eric Lawrence Frazier, MBA