Communicating Goals

Leaders recognize that in order to lead effectively they need to give their followers success. Some leaders are concerned that if they reveal their goals to their subordinates there is the possibility that they might miss the goals. The leaders are concerned that they might lose credibility if this happens. While this is certainly a possibility, the risks of not presenting any goals to an organization are likely to be more detrimental that missing a goal occasionally.

If you think of an organization as a game and all of your employees are players in the game, you'll see why having goals is so important. If none of the players understand the rules, it is unlikely that they will have much fulfillment from playing. Even if they lose occasionally, it is better for them to know the rules than feel like they are working toward something that was just random.

When your player/employees understand the rules and how to score (what the goals are), they can enjoy what they are doing. Someone who enjoys their job will be much more productive than someone who is just trudging through the day doing what they are told. The most efficient organizations are those where individuals take personal pleasure in meeting the goals of the organization. The least efficient organizations are those where individuals don't really care anything about the organization's goals or what it is trying to achieve.

Communicating goals doesn't guarantee that your employees will be motivated and love what they do, but if you don't convey goals to your employees at all you can certainly guarantee that they won't be motivated because they won't know where they are going.

Communication is a very important skill for a leader to develop. Without good communication, it is unlikely that they will success. The thoughtful leader is constantly taking the pulse of his organization and looking at how what he said was received--constantly measuring how well people understood what he said and how well they are taking his words and converting them into appropriate action. Good communication doesn't happen on accident. It has to be developed and constantly refined. You have to constantly measure how effective your communication was and make sure it is achieving the desired results.

When it comes to communicating goals, it is important to gauge whether or not the goals you have set are achieving the desired results. Sometimes your goals will need refined to make sure people are heading in an appropriate direction and following your intent not just what you said.