Setting SMART Goals

Have you ever made a New Years Resolution and then given up after only a few weeks? Who hasn’t? This could be caused by several reasons, i.e., biting off more than you can chew, having a vague or unclear goal, or not setting clear deadlines.

However, good leaders that in order to attain their vision it is important to set and achieve the right goals. You can find a plethora of information about setting goals. Though, I think using the SMART method of goal setting is not only easy to use but also very effective in creating goals that will work.

Specific – Set clear goals and articulate what it is exactly, that you want to accomplish. “I want to improve my leadership skills,” isn’t a specific goal. However, “I want to increase my knowledge of leadership by reading one book on leadership every week,” is more specific.

Measurable – How will you know that you’ve achieved your unless it is measurable. Whether you want to lose 15 pounds or increase sales by 15%, you need to have that finish-line clear in your mind.

Agreed Upon – For a leader this is critical. You might think that a certain goal is in line with the group’s vision. However, if the group doesn’t agree, or if the goal doesn’t agree with your own personal beliefs and values it will not be achieved.

Realistic – Of course you need to set goals that are realistic. If you set goals that are beyond your or your group’s capabilities you will fail and lower morale.

Time Based – You need to set a deadline or deadlines for your goal. Not only will the deadline make it possible for you to manage time and lay out the specific tasks needed to achieve your goal. In addition, deadlines affect the achievability of a goal. Making $10,000 in sales is easier to achieve over a month than over 3 days.

Remember that these are just guidelines for writing goals. Also, it requires a lot of time and thought to actually decide what goals will fit into your vision. Furthermore, it is important to be constantly reviewing and editing your goals as you and your team’s situation changes.

Anyway it’s time to get cracking and set some new SMART goals.

-Jason

What is a Leader?

What is a leader? This is the big question. Does a leader smell different from a “normal” person? Can someone be a “born leader”? This is a complex question (though you probably guess that leaders don’t smell different from other people).

In a simplified world, I would say there are three types of people: Technicians, Managers, and Leaders.

Let’s start with Technicians. First of all, don’t confuse these people with “followers”. Good followership is an important aspect of good leadership (but we’ll get to this in a later post). Technicians on the other hand are typically the grunts who, while being extremely competent from a technical standpoint, are often wearing blinders and only focus on one specific task. Technicians usually do not have a clear vision of the “big picture” of what he or she is working on, and therefore often do not have an internal sense of urgency, are indecisive, and avoid anything different from the familiar.

Managers are often given authority over their team by others. In contrast to technicians, they are goal oriented people. They are able provide their people with a detailed plan of attack to accomplish the tasks that must be completed to accomplish their goals. Managers tend to be highly organized and efficient to the point of seeming bureaucratic. Because of this, a manager can often become like a task master or drill sergeant, seeking recognition for him or herself often at rest of the team’s cost. Many managers think themselves to be leaders, having read a book or two on leadership or attended a so-called “leadership seminar”. Young leaders, please be wary of falling into this pit-fall. An inflated ego is the surest way to alienating your team and failure to achieve your goal.

Leaders understand their followers’ needs and provide them with a vision to help satisfy these needs. They see the big picture but also know how to help their team accomplish the specific tasks needed to achieve the ultimate goal. Leaders take on the responsibilities of leadership. They are willing to pay the price in getting the resources and tools that are needed to achieve the team’s goals.

Leaders are results oriented, allowing their teams the flexibility to make their own decisions. They trust their teams’ expertise and ability to get results. Instead of barking out strict orders, leaders set an example for the team to follow. Most of all, a true leader is people oriented. They focus on their people, giving clear and constructive feedback, acting as one part coach and one part cheer leader to energize their teams. A leader is given his or her authority from the followers, and therefore has a commitment to help them achieve the vision.

Hopefully this gets you all on the right track on understanding what is and what isn’t a leader. Often times we see people trying to “be a leader” by just bossing others around. This couldn’t be farther from what a true leader should be. But more on this next time.

-Jason

Ice Breakers

Most people shiver at the sound of the word “Ice Breaker”. Maybe this is because we all have been to a meeting where an unenthused organizer has forced us to perform an embarrassing task along with a random bunch of strangers. However things don’t have to be this way. Ice breakers by their very nature should be fun activities that get a group of strangers or people who have never worked together before to begin to feel a little more comfortable with each other.

How can we avoid the “cold shoulder” when doing an ice breaker? Well this is all up to the meeting organizer. Anyone can follow the instructions of an ice breaker, but it takes a leader to pull it off successfully. So what’s the trick? ENTHUSIASM If the meeting organizer is not truly excited about the ice breaker (I’m not talking about playing phony here), how do we expect the participants to get excited about it?

So in short, pick an ice breaker that you feel will be fun, and matches the dynamic of the audience. You would definitely want to have a different icebreaker for senior citizen librarians than for the Monty Python Society at the local college. Also keep in mind that ice breakers should be pretty short, under 5-10 minutes depending on the size of the group.

To help you out I’ll list a few ice breaker ideas as well as my opinions on them.

1. Two Truths and a Lie – The old standby. Everyone writes their name and two truths and one lie about themselves on an index card. The organizer collects the cards and reads them off asking the group to guess which “fact” is the lie. It works for pretty much any group, and because of this, has been done to death. Use it only if you really really want to.
2. Snowball Fight – A flurry of fun. Break the group into two teams. Each person takes a piece of paper and writes down their favorite music band, movie, book, and etc… on it. Then crumple up the pieces of paper and have an indoor snowball fight!! After a few minutes, everyone picks up a “snowball” uncrumples it and tries to find the owner. This one is a lot of fun, but some people might not appreciate getting whacked in the face with a crumpled up piece of paper.
3. Birthday Line – More difficult than you think. This one is simple, the group is to form a line in order by birthday… with only one catch… no talking! The Birthday Line ice breaker is fun, especially when you see all the wacky body language people use to try to convey when their birthday is.
4. The Name Game – “A person’s name, to them, is the sweetest and most important sound in the world.” This works easiest in a circle. Have the first person state his/her name. Then the second person states the first person’s name and then their own, the third states the first’s then the second’s, and then their own, and etc… By the end everyone will pretty much have learned everyone else’s name. This ice breaker is great for new teams, the only thing is that it takes a little bit longer to do.
5. Story Relay – Yeah so maybe this is a modified drinking game… But that’s why it’s so fun! Bring the team into a circle choose a theme (maybe something relevant to your group/meeting) for your “story”. Then start the story with only one sentence, the next person to the right then continues the story with another sentence. This should continue until the story is finished or the story doesn’t make sense anymore (each person should go at least once). This ice breaker is mainly just for fun. Maybe better for groups that already know each other.

-Jason

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a modern classic. Filled with wonderful anecdotes, Covey leads the reader through each of the 7 Habits ending with what he calls the "Private Victory", the "Public Victory", and finally repeating the cycle to achieve more and greater goals.

One specific anecdote that I particularly enjoyed was about "paradigm shifts". Covey relates the story of being in the subway and becoming annoyed by a particularly roudy bunch of children. Upset he confront's the children's father who had been sitting in his seat apparently staring into space. Waking from his daze, the father apologizes to Covey, telling him that they had all just come back from the hospital where the children's mother just died not more than a few hours ago. Immediately Covey has a paradigm shift, seeing the father not as irresponsible and uncaring but rather as being in need of some emotional support.

This little story so wonderfully illustrates the need for the reader to see the 7 Habits as a paradigm, a frame of mind or method of action, that when followed will lead to high levels of effectiveness.

These 7 Habits are:
1. Be Proactive - Don't just sit there DO SOMETHING!
2. Begin With the End in Mind - Know where you want to go.
3. Put First Things first - Get your priorities straight and tackle them.
4. Think Win/Win - Success is much easier when it is shared.
5. Seek First to Understand then to be Understood - Hear what people have to say, stop, think and understand where they are coming from, and then explain how what you want is inline with what they want too.
6. Synergize - "2+2 = 5 or more" No man (or woman) is an island. Leveraging the knowledge, talents, and experiences of others you can achieve far more than you could alone.
7. Sharpen the Saw - Work to continuously improve yourself, never rest on your laurels, in our fast paced modern world what was good enough today won't get you by tomorrow.

If you haven't already read this book, READ IT. If you have read it, maybe this is the time to take a second look at how the 7 Habits can be made part of your life. Also realize that leadership requires the mindset of being a leader and The 7 Habits is a great start for getting into that mindset.

Happy Reading,

-Jason

Introduction

The Young Leader is a blog for Young Leaders. We live in a world today where "leadership" is touted to be a requisite skill at school, on the job, and in life. However many don't know much about leadership beyond "being able to tell others what to do". Therefore this blog is aimed to take readers on a journey as I share my experiences in leadership, research the art and science of leadership, and uncover the tools and resources to help Young Leaders succeed.

Enjoy,

-Jason