June 2017 www.SecurityInfoWatch.com / Security Dealer & Integrator 51
authorship. "It is really important to
have enthusiastic buy-in from your
employees," says San Francisco-based
business coach Bill Baren. "Everyone
feels that they have some ownership in
the goal, as opposed to the boss acting
as a dictator."
"Even a really good boss can't see
it all," adds Francisco Dao, founder
and president of California-based
e Killer Pitch. "Get the feedback
from people who will be working
on the front line to meet or beat the
company goals."
6
Goals should be
action-oriented. In defin-
ing your goals, specify which
actions need to be taken, by which
people, and when – and do not forget
to include yourself. Reducing overhead
expenses is a good example of a goal
that will benefit by cooperation and
enthusiasm from all employees, some
more than others. Which employees
are most likely to have opportunities
to help reduce overhead, and have you
asked them for their input?
7
Do not carve goals in
stone. While it is important
to keep your goals specific and
time-oriented, it is equally important
to stay flexible. In business, the unex-
pected is always lurking right around
the corner. When it rears its ugly head,
it may be necessary to adjust your
goals to compensate for a change in
circumstances without losing any of
the momentum already gained.
8
Put them in writing.
Committing your goals to
writing is an important step in
achieving them, as mental goals are
too easy to ignore. With all of the pres-
sures imposing on our daily lives, the
best of intentions le out there floating
in the ether are likely to give way to
more pressing matters. Committing
goals to writing creates an urgency that
keeps them in focus.
In a study involving 267 partici-
pants, Dr. Gail Matthews, a professor
of psychology at Dominican Univer-
sity, River Forest, Ill., found that we are
42 percent more likely to achieve our
goals just by writing them down.
9
Celebrate every success.
Arguably, there is no better way
to keep motivation at a high
level than celebrating successes as they
are achieved. Your short-term and
long-term goals will be made up of
individual increments, each of which
can be, and should be, monitored on
a regular basis. By celebrating even
minor successes, you put renewed
energy into the effort to push on to the
greater successes on the horizon. ■
»
William J. Lynott is a freelance
writer who specializes in business
management and business finance.
For more info, visit www.blynott.com.