Goal Setting

The Importance of Setting SMART Goals

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To be successful as a leader, a COO, a CEO, or even just as an employee, you need to set goals, but those can’t just be any old goals, they have to be SMART goals.

What are those, exactly?

What is a SMART goal?

The well-known meaning of SMART:

  • S – Specific
  • M – Measurable
  • A – Achievable
  • R – Realistic
  • T – Timely

Personally, I like to give the S a double meaning:

  • S – Shared

But what do each of those mean?

To set SMART goals, you need to be clear on what that means and how to set them. That starts with making sure you have a clear understanding of every letter in the acronym.

Specific: “Your goal should be clear and specific, otherwise you won’t be able to focus your efforts or feel truly motivated to achieve it” – Mindtools

According to Mindtools, to be specific, you want to make sure that your SMART goal answers these 5 questions:

  • What do I want to accomplish?
  • Why is this goal important?
  • Who is involved?
  • Where is it located?
  • Which resources or limits are involved?

Measurable: The SMART goal should be able to be quantified or is at the very least tangible. For example, your goals could be, “Move average contract size from $1500 to $1650.” Your goals should include a #, $, or a % sign somewhere, or else you know that your goal is far too vague.

Attainable: While it’s great to set lofty goals that’ll push you to work harder, you still need it to be achievable in the end. Without goals that are actually attainable, you won’t be able to build a culture of achievement.

Relevant: Your SMART goals have to be relevant and aligned with the objectives or the other goals your company is working towards. If not, it may seem like a good goal to you, but in the end, no one else will really care about it. It has to matter to the company.

Timely: Large goals should be broken down into a sequence of goals based on time. As an example, your goal could be to “Have ten calls per day this week.” That goal should be placed directly into your calendar on the exact time and day you’ll actually do that work.

If you’re working with the meaning I put behind the S as well – which I recommend you do – you need to understand the importance and the benefits of sharing your goals.

Shared: Both the manager and employee have to know about the goal and feel it’s a good goal. The goal has maximum buy-in when the subordinate sets it and both people commit to hitting it.

Not only that but sharing your goals helps to keep you accountable. When you know that someone knows you’re trying to achieve something, you’re much more likely to actually achieve it. You don’t want the embarrassment of that person knowing you never did it.

Make SMART Goals a Constant

Break the habit of allowing people to have all their goals due on the last day of the quarter. You could even be doing this, too. There shouldn’t be one set day for goals to be done. Instead, create goals that matter throughout the month/quarter/year. You want to have something to accomplish all the time and to drive you forward. That means setting both large goals and smaller ones you can finish to achieve the big ones.

Every COO, CEO, employee—basically everyone—should create a habit of setting SMART goals. It’s one of the best ways to push yourself forward and to actually accomplish tasks. Taking the time to think these goals out is definitely worth it.

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in March 2011 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Have Sales People? You Need to Know the 87% Rule !!!

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If you have sales people, you need to know the 87% rule.

I’m not even sure why or how it works.  But it does.  Every time.

Add up all the goals your sales people have for any given period of time.  As a group, they’ll come in at a total of 87% of what ever their goals total up to.  Try it this month – get each person to commit to a goal.  Add em up.  And you can bet they’ll come in at 87% of that number.

So, if you want to hit a number – divide your goal by .87 – and make sure your sales peoples goals add up to more than that calculation you’ve come up with.  If you want to hit $1,000,000 you need to make sure there goals add up to at least $1,149,425.  If their goals add up to less – you’re going to miss your target EVERY time.

Try it…

What Are Goal Setting and Review Meetings?

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Do you have Goal Setting and Review meetings? If not, then you should. These are perhaps one of the most high impact meeting types there are, but only if you do them effectively. This blog is here to help with that!

Here you can find an outline of what a Goal Setting and Review meeting is and some tips on making them effective.

What is a Goal Setting and Review Meeting?

A Goal Setting and Review meeting is a one-on-one meeting that you have with the people that report directly to you. Then they have them with the people that report to them and so on down the line.

In this meeting, you set goals with your direct reports for the week coming up and ensure that their goals are aligned with the objectives of your team and the company as a whole.

“Team goals need to align with the aim of the company or organization. While these are going to mirror individual goals in many ways, team goals will be much larger and broader in scope. Some constraints need to be taken into account when setting team goals. These include the amount of time, the company budget, and the resources that the organization has available.” – Docket

What to Focus On

Goal Setting and Review meetings are meant to be a blend of direction, development, and support. They’re not an opportunity to task things or do project follow ups. It is only thirty to sixty minutes every week, so you need to keep focus.

The main purpose of this meeting is for you to coach your team members one-on-one, demonstrating to them how to be more effective in their roles. Keep the focus on that. It’s also a meeting where a lot of ‘situational leadership,’ an idea developed by Ket Blanchard and Paul Hersey, gets used.

“[Situational leadership] is when a leader adjusts their type of leadership to best suit a particular situation or task.” – Indeed

Why is it Important?

Done right, Goal Setting and Review meetings eliminate 80% of the emails between you and your direct reports during the week. How is this possible?

Instead of emailing each other with random questions and ideas, you add those to a list that will be discussed at the Goal Setting and Review meeting. This saves you both tons of time during the week. Needless to say, it also saves a lot of frustration caused by the miscommunication that occurs in email.

“Owners and managers are responsible for the goal-setting process as they are the leaders in the organization and tasked with maximizing the return of stakeholders vested in the company. The goal-setting process puts everyone on the same page and defines how to accomplish the goals.” – Bizfluent

If you’re not routinely meeting with your direct reports on a weekly basis for Goal Setting and Review meetings or something similar, then start today! You’re sure to see improvements very quickly.

If you have questions or would like more information, I’d be happy to help. Please send an email, and my team will get in touch with you!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in August 2011 and has been edited for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Establish Goals First

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The four areas that SMART Goals in your business are needed for are:

1. Revenue. Determine a solid revenue goal for the next twelve months.

2. Profit. Employees need a profit goal to guide them.

3. Customer Service. I highly recommend using the Net Promoter Score here. It’s the single easiest way to measure true satisfaction.

4. Employee Satisfaction. I also recommend using the Net Promoter Score for establishing the benchmark for employee satisfaction as well – one number from one easy question.

For each of these areas, leadership needs to determine a goal for each area. To ensure that the goals they come up with are SMART, I use these guidelines to help me (mine feature a slight variation on the popular business acronym):

S – Shared – Sharing goals with a coach, mentor or team member adds a little extra pressure to hit them.  I even share them with suppliers and clients.

M – Measurable – Put a number on each goal so you can easily say if the goals were hit or missed. Make the goals clear. Hazy goals produce hazy results.

A – Attainable – Your goal has to be remotely possible for it to be included.

R – Relevant – Ensure that all goals are worth working on.

T – Time-based – Put a date on goals if they’re due before December 31st.

Once you have the goals set and the team is committed to hitting them, the next thing you need to do is discuss boundaries. That is to say, yes, you want to hit these goals, but to what extent? Would you work 90 hours a week to hit them, or at maximum, 45?  Would you give up equity in the company to raise money to help you hire people to hit the goals? What won’t you do?

Here are some example points that are worth discussing while you create your own list of boundaries:

· Amount of debt you’ll take on

· Number of hours you’ll work

· Number of days traveling you’re willing to put up with

· Percentage of profits you will share, 0-100%

· Percentage of equity you will give up in the company, 0-100%

· Will you complete any acquisitions? If so, how many?

· Would you fire ‘C’ or ‘B’ players? When?

It’s critical to have the discussions in advance.  Boundaries are like values–you can’t compromise them to win.

Goals – Are You Setting Them?

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Before committing to complete a project or set something up as a goal, ensure you spend some time thinking about what the potential return on investment is. That is, what is the return on your investment of time, money or resources in doing this project going to be?  Is it really worth it?

It’s often not about picking which projects to do, but rather it’s about picking which projects NOT to do that will set you up for success.  Recently I had a debate with a woman on Twitter.  She was telling people to spend one hour a day on Twitter, and I said, “Really? Really? Do you really want people spending one out of eight hours every day Tweeting?  Why?” What’s the ROI they are looking for from it?  If you were going to spend 12.5% of your time on one activity such as using Twitter, then in my mind, you’d damn well better have a goal or ROI in mind before starting out.

Every year, about three to four months before the start of the New Year, I mentor CEOs on how to have an Annual Planning Retreat to come up with the top three to five goals for the company. They’ll decide on goals tied to revenue, profit, customer service, employee satisfaction and perhaps something on systems. These annual goals provide the framework for setting quarterly goals going forward.

Every quarter, each business area and each person in your company should be setting up the top three to five goals they will achieve during the quarter to drive the company’s yearly goals.  Imagine the focus your company would have if you knew what each of the top three to five goals each person in your company was achieving every quarter.  Imagine how focused and aligned everyone would become.

High–performing people set goals religiously, track them religiously, they obsess about whether they’re hitting or missing, and why.  Otherwise life just passes by.

When you’re hiring people, ensure you hire people who already set goals in their personal and business lives. Then it won’t be such a stretch to have them setting clear goals in the business each quarter, month and week.

Life isn’t just about goals for your business, though. My goals also include the amount of free time I want in my life.  I set goals for the amount of “Free Days” I’ll have.  A “Free Day” for me is a twenty-four hour period with no email, no business journals, business magazines, newspapers, not a single phone call—it’s just a twenty-four hour period of free time to spend time on the fun stuff in life with people I love.

In 2009, my goal was to have one hundred twenty Free Days.  I had more than one hundred fifty Free Days in the end, however, I got a bit sloppy and checked email randomly from my darn iPhone. I took close to ninety Saturdays and Sundays off, not working at all.  I also took twenty-one perfect Free Days at our cottage in the summer and physically left my iPhone and laptop in Vancouver.  I’m doing it again this summer for sure.

Simply working hard isn’t what it’s all about. As a business coach and mentor, I believe that having the discipline to even take Free Days is the kind of focus you need to give yourself real work life balance, too.   What goals are you setting?

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Meetings Suck: Turning One Of The Most Loathed Elements Of Business Into One Of The Most Valuable

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We all know that meetings suck, right?

You hear it all the time. It’s the one thing that almost everyone in business can agree on.

Except it’s not actually true… 

Meetings don’t suck.

We just suck at running meetings.   

When done right, meetings not only work, they make people and companies better.

In Meetings Suck, world renowned business expert and growth guru Cameron Herold teaches you how to use focused, time effective meetings to help you and your company soar.

This book shows you immediately actionable, step-by-step systems that ensure that you and everyone in your organization improves your meetings, right away.

In the process, you’ll turn meetings that suck into meetings that work. 

In life, we always hear about people who’ve made huge decisions from their gut – without data.Today, I want you to make a decision, not only from your gut, but also from some data.  A decision that is only $12 per employee but will be priceless for your business.

Right now, your gut is telling you something is wrong with your company’s meetings.  You KNOW everyone complains about meetings.

People HATE going to them, they HATE running them, and they really have NO idea which meetings are truly necessary but they hold meetings simply because they think that is what they SHOULD do.

Even some of the smartest CEOs in the world complain about meetings – Elon Musk publicly told employees at Tesla & SpaceX to walk out of meetings if they weren’t being run properly.

I sent Elon a message saying that wasn’t going to fix anything – the key is to fix the root of the problem – NOT continue to ignore why meetings suck.

A Meeting is – Any phone call, video call or occasion where 2 or more people meet to discuss or work-through office topics.

Most employees on average spend 1-2 hours per day in meetings.

And likely, none of those employees – front-line staff or leaders – have had any training on how to attend meetings or participate in them, LET ALONE How to RUN THEM.

Consider this…

If the Average employee spends just 1 Hour per day in meetings – that’s 1/8th of their time.

If the Average employee earns $50,000 per year.

And they’re spending 1/8th of their time in meetings, that means you’re paying $6,250 dollars per year for just ONE employee to attend meetings.

The reality is, employees spend 1/8th of their time – and 1/8th of your company’s payroll – doing something they have literally NO idea how to do.

The Reality is…

95% of employees are booking & leading meetings – and they have NEVER been trained on how to run them.

95% of employees have had NO training on how to show up and participate in the meetings they attend daily.

And 95% of employees and companies have no idea what meetings are even necessary to hold.

Meetings CAN be hugely effective – IF you know how to run them

Meetings don’t SUCK, we just SUCK at running meetings. 

Investing $15 per employee – to help ensure the $50,000 a year you spend on them is an obvious and easy choice.

This could be the most impactful $15 you’ll ever spend and will save the company’s money, time and resources instantly.

Buying a copy of Meetings Suck for 100% of your employees and having them read it this month will have a huge impact on your company’s success.

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Free PR: How To Get Chased By The Press Without Hiring A PR Firm

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Public relations has always been an essential part of doing business which is probably why you’re shelling out big money to an outside PR firm. But the truth is that you don’t need them. You already have all the necessary tools in-house to do as good a job as the so-called experts. 

Cameron Herold and Adrian Salamunovic have taught thousands of company execs how to exploit free media coverage and ditch these expensive, often ineffective outsiders. 

Cameron & Adrian have also built in-house PR teams, spent decades learning how to generate Free PR and how to leverage public relations to complement their sales and marketing strategy. 

In Free PR, you’ll learn how the media world operates while you gain invaluable insider knowledge and actionable advice on how to: 

  • Build your own in-house PR team
  • Provide effective interviews
  • Score great media coverage for free with just a few easy steps 

Landing public relations coverage for yourself and your company is a powerful tool to help elevate your personal brand. PR is easier to generate than marketing, PR is easier to leverage than marketing and PR is more cost effective than marketing. In other words, Public Relations is more critical than ever in growing your brand and your business. 

You’ve got more passion, commitment, a larger stake, and a deeper understanding of your business than any outside PR firm could ever have. So stop wasting money and take the reins yourself.  Learn the secrets to landing TONS of Free PR for your company.

What they’re saying:

“I think PR is the core for promoting any business. Public relations acquires customers! That’s what’s cool about this book.”

– Kevin O’Leary,  Shark on ABC’s Shark Tank

“The ultimate guidebook for those looking to get press, grow their brand, and get in front of the masses. Free PR is the roadmap you’ve been looking for.”

– Peter Shankman, Founder, Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

“Adrian and Cameron will show you the secrets of getting massive exposure for your business. This book is packed with actionable insights from two guys that actually know how to to do it.”

– Dan Martell,  Serial Entrepreneur & Investor (Intercom.io, Unbounce)

“I told Cameron to write the book on generating free PR. I’m excited to see that he’s finally sharing his secrets with the world. This is a must read for any entrepreneurial company and marketing team.”

– Verne Harnish, Founder of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) and author of Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0)

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Vivid Vision: A Remarkable Tool For Aligning Your Business Around a Shared Vision of the Future

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Many corporations have slick, flashy mission statements that ultimately do little to motivate employees and less to impress customers, investors, and partners. 

But there is a way to share your excitement for the future of your company in a clear, compelling, and powerful way and entrepreneur and business growth expert Cameron Herold can show you how. 

Vivid Vision is a revolutionary tool that will help owners, CEOs, and senior managers create inspirational, detailed, and actionable three-year mission statements for their companies. In this easy-to-follow guide, Herold walks organization leaders through the simple steps to creating their own Vivid Vision, from brainstorming to sharing the ideas to using the document to drive progress in the years to come. 

By focusing on mapping out how you see your company looking and feeling in every category of business, without getting bogged down by data and numbers or how it will happen, Vivid Vision creates a holistic road map to success that will get all of your teammates passionate about the big picture. 

Your company is your dream, one that you want to share with your staff, clients, and stakeholders. Vivid Vision is the tool you need to make that dream a reality.

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The Miracle Morning for
Entrepreneurs: Elevate Your SELF to
Elevate Your BUSINESS

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READY FOR EXPLOSIVE GROWTH AS AN ENTREPRENEUR AND ACCELERATED SUCCESS IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

A step-by-step guide to enjoying the roller-coaster ride of growth — while getting the most out of life as an entrepreneur. A growth-focused approach: The book is divided into three sections, which cover planning for fast growth, building a company for fast growth, and leading for fast growth. Each topic the author covers — from creating a vision for the company’s future to learning how to generate free PR for a developing company — is squarely focused on the end goal: doubling the size of the entrepreneur’s company in three years or less. A down-to-earth action plan: Herold’s experienced-based advice never gets bogged down in generalities or theory. Instead, he offers a wealth of practical tips, including: How to design meetings for maximum efficiency; How to hire top-quality talent; How to grow in particularly tough markets; How to put together a board of advisors — even for a smaller company; How even the busy entrepreneur can achieve a work/life balance.

READY FOR EXPLOSIVE GROWTH AS AN ENTREPRENEUR AND ACCELERATED SUCCESS IN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE?

Hal Elrod’sThe Miracle Morning has helped redefine the mornings and the lives of millions of readers since 2012. Since then, careers have been launched, goals have been met, and dreams have been realized, all through the power of the Miracle Morning’s six Life S.A.V.E.R.S.

THESE SIX DAILY PRACTICES WILL FUEL YOUR EFFORTS TO CREATE AND SUSTAIN POSITIVE CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE.

Now The Miracle Morning for Entrepreneurs brings you these principles in a whole new light—alongside the Entrepreneurial Elevation Principles and the Entrepreneur’s Elevation Skills. These are essential skills that you need to create a successful business and personal life. Cameron Herold— Bestselling Author and a widely-respected expert on entrepreneurial mindset—brings his wisdom and insight to you using Hal Elrod’s powerful Miracle Morning framework.

DEVELOP A VISION FOR YOUR BUSINESS, AND BECOME THE INFLUENTIAL AND INSPIRING LEADER YOU WERE ALWAYS MEANT TO BE.

The principles and skills you’ll find in this book will help you to channel your passion and achieve balance in a remarkable new way. – Learn why mornings matter more than you think – Learn how to master your own self-leadership and accelerate your personal development – Learn how to manage your energy—physical, mental, and emotional – Learn how to implement Hal Elrod’s invaluable Life S.A.V.E.R.S. in your daily routine – And much more… You’re already an entrepreneur. Now discover how to take your success to the next level by first taking yourself to the next level. The Miracle Morning for Entrepreneurs is your roadmap to masterfully building an empire with a powerful vision, utilizing your areas of personal genius, with the right team at your side.

Start giving your business and your life the very best opportunities for success, right now.

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Double Double: How To Double Your Revenue And Profit In 3 Years Or Less​

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A step-by-step guide to enjoying the roller-coaster ride of growth — while getting the most out of life as an entrepreneur. A growth-focused approach: The book is divided into three sections, which cover planning for fast growth, building a company for fast growth, and leading for fast growth. Each topic the author covers — from creating a vision for the company’s future to learning how to generate free PR for a developing company — is squarely focused on the end goal: doubling the size of the entrepreneur’s company in three years or less. A down-to-earth action plan: Herold’s experienced-based advice never gets bogged down in generalities or theory. Instead, he offers a wealth of practical tips, including: How to design meetings for maximum efficiency; How to hire top-quality talent; How to grow in particularly tough markets; How to put together a board of advisors — even for a smaller company; How even the busy entrepreneur can achieve a work/life balance.