This morning as I looked out the window, there was a lone heron gingerly pacing along the edge of our pond. He was a study in patience and vigilance. His goal was very simple: he was looking for his morning meal. His next goal was to survive another few hours until time to seek his evening meal. It may not have seemed like it, but the heron had very clear goals.


Whether you realize it or not, you set all kinds of goals all the time. Perhaps you had a goal of buying the perfect Christmas present which would surprise and delight your spouse. Maybe you had an even simpler one: you wanted to make it to the airport this morning in time to catch your flight. Or maybe you had a longer-term goal like raising your children so they’d be productive members of society as adults. Everyone without exception sets and strives for goals of one type or another.
Why this elementary discussion? There are, believe it or not, some members of family businesses – one agribusinessman in western Kansas comes quickly to mind – who strenuously say they don’t believe in and never set goals. Perhaps they believe that, if they had set goals in the past, they would have long ago blown by them thereby rendering the goals powerless (if that were the case, wouldn’t it to be easy enough to simply set new, more ambitious goals?). Others fear that if they set goals they will fail to achieve them, and they will experience the pain associated with failure (they will, but why must that necessarily be a bad thing? What a great opportunity to learn and grow!). Or maybe they just don’t know the right way to go about setting their goals (keep reading). Maybe the term “goal setting” is itself too simplistic. Perhaps instead of using “goals” we should describe the outcomes we intend to achieve as individuals and businesses in 2016.
Goal setting is an important component of every family owned business strategic plan. Your team needs goals to rally around, and they are important for holding yourself and others on your team accountable. I can’t imagine a good business plan that doesn’t have crystal-clear outcomes outlined along with timelines for target achievement.
How does one go about goal setting? The first thing to do is to avoid the basic mistake most people make. Think of everyone’s annual New Year’s resolutions. They say, “This is the year! I’m really going to do it. I’m going to lose 25 pounds!” Then, rationalizing the goal has a 365 day deadline, they continue eating and drinking as usual. No need to get all worked up about a target that far off, right? They step on the scales in March or April only to see that not only have they not lost weight, they have actually gained more. The conclusion they reach? “Goal setting doesn’t work” or “Goal setting is not for me.” And let’s face it; we have all set ambitious, even grandiose, New Year’s resolutions only to see ourselves flop.
The old Chinese proverb says that a journey of 1000 miles begins with one step. The great Earl Nightingale said that the key to living a successful life is to live one successful day at a time. As it applies to setting goals for yourself or your business, it’s important to break them down into manageable, achievable steps over manageable periods of time to make achievement realistic and to be able to assign accountability. We’ll examine goal setting from a personal perspective; however, you’ll see how easily a personal goal setting discipline can be translated into your family business planning. The following are six steps which will help you set your goals in a way that is both meaningful and achievable.

1. Brainstorm your wish list or dream list. Ask yourself questions. What would I have in my life if I could design it anyway I wanted? What would I do if I knew I could not fail? Who would be in my life? What would be in my life when what I have these things? What places do I want to see? What contributions do I want to make? Where do I want to go or be? What lifestyle do I want? What things do I want? In brainstorming this wish list, there are no wild, foolish, or incorrect ideas; anything is fair game. Make your list long, use your imagination, and return to it and build it over the period of a few days to a week.
2. Going back to your list, make sure you have goals for each of the important roles you play in life like marriage, family, career or business, financial, spiritual, contribution, physical, toys, or anything else you can dream up. Make sure your goal list is well-balanced.
3. Using your list, think through and jot down a short sentence or paragraph about why each item on the list is important. Distinguish between what on the list is urgent and what is genuinely important. Further distinguish between goals that you have which might specifically fit into 2016 and those that are longer range in nature. As you walk through the list and think through why each item is important, some items should become apparent as higher priorities than others.
4. Again using the list and the thinking behind why each item is important, identify your top three to five outcomes for 2016. Three goals are better than five, and five is better than six. One mistake people make in goal setting is that they create so many objective outcomes they can’t easily keep them all in mind. Jim Collins wrote about the concept of “BHAG” – the big hairy audacious goal – that all good to great companies set as their guiding North Stars. If you can develop your personal BHAG, you’re well on your way to goal achievement.
5. Make sure each goal is SMART! That is, each goal must be:
   • Specific
   • Measurable
   • Action oriented
   • Realistic
   • Timely or time bound

   A goal to lose 25 pounds is both specific and measurable. However, there is no specific action plan supporting the outcome, the plan may or may not be achievable depending on your personal habits and health, it may not be realistic, and there’s no specific date for the outcome. A family business goal might be to become “the most visible construction firm in the area.” However, this goal is not specific (what does visible mean?), unmeasurable (who exactly makes the determination about visibility?), does not orient itself towards any specific actions, may or may not be realistic, and has no date for achievement. A main reason people and companies fail to achieve their desired outcomes is they that they don’t make them SMART.

6. Develop your accountability system. Now that each of your three to five desired outcomes has been turned into a SMART goal, you’re going to need a system – ideally a weekly system – to measure target achievement. There are all kinds of accountability systems, including software, budgets, paper and pencil score sheets, etc. It’s not so important which kind of accountability system you use; the main thing is that you have one and that you refer to it on a regular basis so that you can measure. Goals that are behind schedule will need, potentially, more attention, more money, more or different people, a rethinking of strategy, more time, etc. The main thing is that you have a system for knowing where you stand at any given time. The more specific you can be for holding yourself and others accountable, the more likely you are to achieve successful outcomes.

It’s the time of year when people obsess over New Year’s resolutions. Don’t waste your time with resolutions about which you are not serious. The process of goal setting, on the other hand, is an exercise well worth your time.