What’s the Goal of Goal-Setting?

Not everyone achieves the same way, so it’s important to find a path that suits you.

For decades, goal-setting has occupied a prominent place in sales training and development applications. Most companies drill employees on the importance of defining, working toward and meeting goals. Outside the workplace, we’re bombarded with encouragement to set goals for everything from saving for retirement to losing extra pounds. And everywhere we hear enthusiastic testimonials from those who say their goals were critical to their success.

With all that love for goal-setting, we should be living in a shiny, happy world of high achievers. Yet that’s not the case. The evidence is all around us, from mounting debt to spiraling obesity rates. And for every salesperson who consistently meets his or her goals, there’s another washing out of the profession. It’s clear that goal-setting is not working for everybody.

Why not? Do some people not believe the success stories? Have they simply neglected—or refused—to have goals?

Not exactly. We all have goals whether we realize it or not. By definition, you can’t not have them. On a daily basis, we all make behavioral choices designed to create desirable outcomes or avoid undesirable ones. That’s what goals are. Even the least ambitious make choices that lead to a destination.

But even more than that, goals give us the power to be the people we want to be. According to the EEE model of goal-setting published by the American Psychology Association, there are three reasons why setting goals can lead to positive change. Goals enlighten us as to our strengths and weaknesses so we can prioritize depending on our needs; encourage us to use motivation and courage to complete the task at hand; and enable us to gain the skills and confidence to achieve as well as the perception to see the balance between our real and ideal self.

All goals are not created equal

Researchers have classified two general types. Mastery goals are related to learning and increasing competence; for example, deciding to learn a second language or take a course in computer programming. Performance goals, on the other hand, are directed toward demonstrating competence to others in order to gain approval or avoid disapproval. Sales quotas are a classic form of performance goals, but taking dance lessons to avoid looking foolish at your high school reunion also qualifies.

The type of goal we set (or have set for us) influences how we go about achieving it, so it’s important to define it with care. Let’s say we have two budding musicians. Both want to learn to play the guitar. Pete states his goal this way: “I want to learn three new chords and one new song every week.” Vince, on the other hand, expresses it like this: “I want to be a ROCK GOD.” They’re both valid goals. But when Pete sits down to practice, Vince is bored to tears. And when Vince jumps onstage to rock with more confidence than skill, Pete is horrified. They may both want to play the guitar, but their goals are actually very different. And no matter what either of them accomplishes, neither is likely to consider the other a success.

One size does not fit all

While everyone has goals, not everyone responds to goals in the same way. To the undiscriminating observer, that can lead to behaviors that look a lot like failure.

Some salespeople, for example, are motivated by clear, unambiguous objectives. Give them a target, and their mission becomes hitting a bullseye. Their style, efficiency and even ethics may be less than optimal. Their focus on results, however, is never in doubt. If this sounds like you, you’re probably best suited for performance goals that reward specific, measurable outcomes, such as “policies written” or “revenue generated.”

But some salespeople find clear-cut performance targets to be intimidating. The harsh glare of expectation creates pressure and anxiety to the point that it becomes demotivating. Instead of running toward the light, they stand still, transfixed or scurry away in fear as if they’re allergic to goals. If you think you might be goal-allergic, you’d do well to frame your objectives as mastery goals, which emphasize the process by which you achieve results, such as “qualifying prospects” or “successfully closing.”

Choose the right type of goal for you

An inspiring example of choosing the right goals for the job can be found in the movie The King’s Speech. The future George VI of England—“Bertie” to his family—is plagued by a lifelong stuttering problem. He desperately wants and needs to communicate clearly, but the harder he tries, the more his words fail him. In a key scene, his speech therapist puts a copy of Hamlet in his hands and instructs him to read the “to be or not be” soliloquy aloud. The catch is, while he reads, he must wear headphones playing music so loudly he can’t hear himself speak.

Bertie insists it will end in failure—after all, if he can’t control the stutter when he’s concentrating on every word he says, how can he possibly do it when he doesn’t know what he’s saying? He tries, and eventually throws the book down in exasperation, convinced he’s failed miserably. Yet when a recording of his recitation is played back, his reading is fluid, without a trace of stammer. Even a future king can be intimidated by a target that seems impossible to hit. But when the source of his anxiety – his own halting, catching voice – was removed, he was free to direct his energy to the process of speaking clearly without worrying about the result.  It was the beginning of a remarkable transformation.

Too often we believe we’ve failed at our goals, when in fact our goals have failed us. No matter what any expert tells you, there’s more than one path to achieving success—if you let yourself be open to finding it. Regardless of how you go about it, transforming desire into reality should always be the real goal of goal-setting.

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