The Importance of Goals

Everyone sets themselves goals; things we want to do, things we want to achieve. Setting these goals gives us milestones to work towards; specific points at which we can look back and reflect, analyse how we did.We’ve all had goals at some point in our life but are you still regularly using them? Are you taking them into all aspects of your life? Having goals inspires us to work harder to achieve, but how often do we set ourselves goals to be better leaders?As noted by John Maxwell, one of the defining attributes of a leader is their ability to develop and improve their skills. High achievers, and people who constantly push themselves to reach new goals, don’t just increase their capabilities, they change the way people see them. People who regularly complete and exceed their goals, according to Maxwell, are consistent level 3 leaders; people who get results. Their followers want to emulate their successes, and they’re right to. From infancy we learn by watching others, and being in close contact and having regular interaction with high achievers rubs off.Recent research has highlighted how leaders, who regularly set goals, are perceived by those around them, “leaders who set a goal for change on a competency were perceived as having improved more on that competency than those who did not. Those who set more than one goal were perceived as having improved more across competencies than those who set only one goal.” (Johnson, Garrison, Hernez-Broome, Fleenor & Steed, 2018; p.555).There are clear benefits to setting goals: not only do you improve your own capabilities but you also increase your potential to lead. So set yourself goals! push yourself, others will notice and begin to follow your example!E.M. GodsmanELAvate Global