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Monday, August 22, 2005
Antonio: Managing goals
By Kiko Antonio
Night Manager
STRIVING. Business leaders manage goals by setting and systematically striving to achieve them. However, factors such as character strengths, optimism and resilience can play significant roles in how well goals are managed. In the end, a managerial leader’s ability to make wise choices and implement pathways that lead to attaining desired goals is critical to success. Our values are at the heart of what is important in life and work.
Effective managerial leaders serve themselves and others best when they are committed to a set of core values. This commitment takes three forms: first, leaders need to be clear about what values they hold; second, they must effectively communicate their values clearly and meaningfully to key stakeholders; and third, managerial leaders need to ensure that their actions are in alignment with their espoused values.
According to Charles D. Kerns, Ph.D., associate dean for academic affairs for the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University, this connection between what one says and what one does can be described as one’s “Behavioral Integrity Quotient” or BIQ. Leaders need to have a high BIQ—act consistently with their espoused values—in order for others to trust them. Having committed to a set of core values, a managerial leader has a meaningful context within which to make relevant decisions about the nature of the goals he or she sets. Values give purpose and meaning to one’s goals. Values serve as a strategic foundation for goal setting. Conversely, goals represent values applied to specific life and work circumstances.
While there are many useful resources to assist leaders in setting goals, as well as empirical studies demonstrating the importance of goal setting in organizational settings, these efforts largely ignore how to make the connection between core values and the goal setting and attainment processes.
To enhance goal commitment and to build confidence in the goal setting process, managerial leaders must personally commit to a set of core values.
Studies show that commitment to goal attainment is enhanced when goals are perceived as important and when the performer has a high level of confidence that the goal will be achieved. Commitment and confidence will wane when goals are perceived as unattainable. Managerial leaders should not be setting or pursuing goals that are unimportant or unattainable.
(kiko_antonio@yahoo.com)
(August 22, 2005 issue)
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