Goals

I attended a business after hours hosted by one of the counties in New York last night. It is always fun to mingle with business leaders and hear their opinions on things. The networking was good for all involved, but me being me, I analyzed particular conversations.

The focus of the night was trying to grow and bring business to this particular county. As some of you may know, the local economies of the upstate New York region have taken a beating over the past few years. Taxes have increased. Manufacturing has moved south or overseas. Young people have left for warmer climates, taking their education and brain power with them. Retirees have left the high property taxes. And the businesses that at one time made the northeast the most powerful part of the country have diminished. Growing up in Rochester, NY, I have seen the aftermath firsthand by the evolutions at Kodak, Xerox, Bausch and Lomb, and numerous GM subsidiaries.

One of the attendees last night was a local state assemblyman. At one point I spent a better part of an hour in a discussion with him and a business owner I’m friends with. From my talk last night and over previous conversations with other business people in the state, there seems to be a common theme: New York is not business friendly.

Now, the point of this post is not to talk politics or slam my home state. The point is to share what happened when we asked the assemblyman what was being done to fix the problem. He carried on with a few points, but I asked him what I ask all of my clients, “What are the goals?” Even though this issue has been going on for years, he didn’t have any definitive answers or action plan.

And that is not his fault. Goals start at the top. In any organization, the goals come from above. If you don’t have company goals, you’re in trouble. If your managers don’t know the goals, don’t believe in the goals, or don’t know how to achieve the goals, you are in trouble. If your doers aren’t on board with the goals and if they don’t see how their job impacts the goals, sayonara.

When you are setting goals, some questions to ask are:

• Are the goals clearly defined?
• Do the goals make sense?
• Do managers understand the goals and know how to explain them to others?
• Have we informed every person on what the goals are and why they are important?
• Can employees of all levels and educational backgrounds understand the goals?
• Does each employee know how their job impacts the goals?

In any government, organization, business, or team, if you have common goals, it will be much easier to get on the road to success. Put everyone on the same page and watch your results move in the desired direction.