The Power of Words

  1. The terms and words we choose have an impact on what we believe
  2. Have you ever had that feeling that everyone else in the world believes in something but the mere thought of it makes you uneasy or uncomfortable or it just doesn’t sit right with you?
  3. For Andy, this thing is Goal setting.
    1. Goal setting is ambiguous
      • Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t
        • If your car or dentist sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t, would you continue?
    2. People tend to set unrealistic goals
    3. People tend to set goals they think their leaders want to hear (again, unrealistic)
    4. Consistent increase typically indicates a mark of success; people believe this from setting goals
  4. Andy uses a metaphor for taking routes.
    1. Everyone takes different routes to get places, you are informed of a new and better route
    2. Once you start taking the route, you get caught in traffic from accidents everyday
    3. There are always crashes, but you get a little further each day.  The advice is to stay the course since you are consistently increasing your distance each day.
    4. Would you continue down this road if you knew inevitably you would crash?
    5. This also applies to goal setting. You can continue to set goals and continue to increase a little each time, but if they are unrealistic and you never meet them, why do you continue to set goals knowing you will crash?
    6. What we truly believe as humans is so powerful, we are unable to perform against it.
  5. CEO’s and goal setting
    1. More than 25% of CEOs are fired each year. Why?
      • Could be directly related to goal building.  
      • Companies typically have cascading goals.  They can cascade up from the bottom level:
        • Sales say they will reach 40, regionals base their goals on 40 and so on up the ladder
        • Sales only says 40 out of fear and criticism but never actually reaches the goal
        • Company doesn’t meet the goal; stakeholders aren’t happy, CEO is let go
  6. Andy also gave an example of his friend who will join the Senior PGA when he is old enough.
    1. Gives him time to better his handicap
    2. Doesn’t realize the greats will also reach the Senior PGA at the same time
    3. Is this a goal or a dream to play in the PGA?

Words matter

  1. Think about the word responsibility
  2. You know the concept well and it carries a “get it done’ connotation
  3. Read the 3 following statements:             
    1. I dream to someday to sell 40 boats in a single year
    2. My goal is to sell 40 boats in a single year
    3. I have a responsibility to sell 40 boats a year
  4. Which one will get it done?
    1. I have a responsibility to sell 40 boats a year
      • We take responsibility more seriously
  5. Think about “I have to” verse “I get to”
    1. Think about what you do each day and think about others who would love to be in your position
    2. Take the words “have to” out of your vocabulary and replace them with “I get to”
      • “I get to” has honor and reflects an attitude of gratitude

 

Responsibility vs Goals

  1. As you begin to think about 2021 and what you would like to accomplish, take on a different mindset
    1. Replace the word goal with responsibility
    2. Setting up unrealistic goals is setting up for failure
    3. What are you responsible for? What expectations are in place to complete those responsibilities?
    4. As managers, are we creating a safe place to have honest discussions about responsibilities vs expecting our teams to give us unrealistic goals that we will inevitably fail to achieve?