In 1962, when President Kennedy said in a speech at Rice University, 'We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard...' he is credited with setting a target that lifted the aspirations of a generation and energized a nation. To this day, the concept of proactive goal setting and focusing on desired results is widely promoted as being fundamental to individual and organizational success. Setting goals is of course important, but with some reservations attached, in my opinion.

Goals are good, if and when the goals are good. What I mean by this is that setting unrealistic goals, be they personal or organizational, can do more harm than good. Too many people today - driven by a lot of self-help mumbo jumbo - set improbable goals for themselves, given their talents and the level of effort they are prepared to put into realising them. This can, when those goals are not achieved, have a negative rather than a positive impact. Hoteliers too must be careful when setting business goals in terms of how they are devised and structured because badly designed goals can be worse than having no goals at all; they can lead everyone in a direction that is counterproductive. I have seen many hotels establish goals, for example in terms of revenue, which although achieved were not of utmost value because the costs generated in making those revenue targets meant that the increased revenue did not proportionally translate to the bottom line.

Goal orientation and effective leadership do undoubtedly go hand in hand, but with these provisions in mind. First and foremost, the best leaders are good at setting realistic personal goals, which stretch them for sure, but are also within their capability to realize. They never fall into the trap of believing that any goal is achievable just because it is set. In a work context, these leaders always have a clear view of what they are trying to achieve, but they make sure that these goals have the effect of adding real value to the business. In tackling the goal issue, I have noticed how the more effective leaders I meet have the knack of making the goals more tangible and meaningful for their people and they always seem to try to:

  • Include their people in defining the goals in the first place, where possible.
  • Break long-term goals into shorter focused sub-goals. This helps them to identify 'little wins' which encourage further effort.
  • Get everyone to publically commit to attaining the goals. Breaking promises is not something most people like to do.
  • Offer continuous encouragement and motivate their employees to keep going.
  • Allow their people to self-monitor progress. Ownership is everything.
  • Provide regular feedback on progress.
  • Recognize and remove blockages which may be holding things back.

Once business goals are set, effective leaders excel at building and sustaining buy in for them, so much so, that I have often been quite surprised at just how much employees come to see the goals as being their own, with the result that those who work for these leaders tend to feel part of something bigger than themselves and view the achievement of organizational goals and satisfying their own needs and aspirations as being compatible, not contradictory.

Here is a simple conceptual framework for devising and implementing personal or business goals:

Source: HTC ConsultingSource: HTC Consulting
Source: HTC Consulting

Enda Larkin has over 25 years experience in the hotel industry having held a number

of senior management positions in Ireland, UK and the US. In 1994 he founded HTC Consulting, a Geneva based firm, which specialises in working with enterprises in hospitality and tourism. Since that time, he has led numerous consulting projects for public and private sector clients throughout Europe and the Middle East. He is author of Ready to Lead? (Pearson/Prentice Hall 2007), How to Run a Great Hotel (How to Books 2009), 'Quick Win' Leadership (Oak Tree Press 2010) and Journeys – Short Stories and Tall Tales for Managers which is due to be published in March 2012. He may be contacted via www.htc- consult.com or at [email protected]. Read his Blog at www.htc-consult.com/new/blog