Leaders who understand the importance of relating personal goals to organizational goals are equipped to create a high degree of motivation and develop a high performance team

When leaders put the organization and the work above the satisfaction of team member needs, the team members will become denominated and the organizational goals won't be achieved. When team members see how the organization and their respective jobs are an outlet for release of their energies and a source of satisfaction for their needs, they'll be highly motivated.

In order to thrive and expand, a progressive organization's objectives must be conceived and stated in terms of a high purpose  to manufacture a better product at a lower cost to the consumer, or to render a more efficient service to more people. Your objectives must be stated in terms that your team members can identify with, and relate their ego status and achievement needs to, the attainment of the objectives.

In order to receive the maximum benefits from relating personal goals to organizational goals, you need to make certain that your team members are involved in setting the organizational goals and have a sense of ownership in them. At the same time, you need to encourage team members to set personal goals that cause them to stretch, reach and grow as individuals. Setting and achieving personal goals will cause your team members to expand their potential, and potential, once expanded, will never return to its former shape. It's important to remember that both personal and organizational goals must be compatible and mutually supportive. They can't be at cross-purposes with each other. They can't conflict and can't be mutually exclusive. Both you and your team members must be headed in the same direction. When you are, the performance of each team member will improve and productivity and profits will soar.

Setting Goals is Exciting and Rewarding!

Understanding the principles of goal setting is easy actually setting goals and making definite workable plans is hard work.

Writing your goals in detail won't make them happen. Life doesn't pay us according to our wants and desires. Our rewards are determined by our worth and value. The goals we accomplish are those that are compatible with our self-image. The more we improve our self-image, the more we increase the area of possibilities.

Visualization - The ability to mentally accomplish goals before they are physically accomplished is one of the most important aspects of goal setting. If the lens on a camera is out of focus, the print will be out of focus and fuzzy. But, fuzzy goals don't produce fuzzy results - they produce no results. If you don't know what your goal looks like, how will you recognize it when you see it?

The more you achieve, the more distractions you'll encounter. People start knocking on your door saying, "How would you like to make a speech at the Rotary Club?" "We sure could use you on the new community project." "We need you down at the church to head up the fund-raising drive." The more successful you become, the more precious your time becomes.

If you don't have written, specific goals, you'll be easily distracted and taken off course. But, if your goals are written thoughtfully and with care, it will be hard to distract you from what you are doing from the accomplishment of those things most meaningful to you.

Affirmations will help keep you on course. We tend to live up to what others expect of us and not what we expect of ourselves. By using positive affirmations, we begin to act like the person we have resolved to become. As a result, affirmations help to build self-confidence and a feeling of inner security because they give us reinforcement.

Your goals will change because you will change. Sometimes, you'll lower them to be more realistic. Other times, you'll raise them to be more motivational and to demand more of yourself. Remember, your goals aren't written in stone. They can be changed. It isn't a matter of failure and a sign of weakness to change them it's a sign of personal growth and greater self-acceptance to make them more realistic.

Keep score. There is a great sense of satisfaction in reviewing your "Goals Accomplished" and remembering those that once were goals and now are accomplishments. This feeling of achievement and accomplishment increases your self-confidence, enhances your self-image and helps you to set even higher goals. As you look back upon these, you feel worthy of even greater accomplishments.

Of equal importance, when you get off track, you can return to the scene of past successes and past pleasures and recreate the successful attitudes you had which created those successes. Keeping score is counting blessings it adds meaning and purpose to life.

Goal setting and the accomplishment of goals is not always easy. You have to work, and work hard. But know that you can become the disciplined person it takes to get the job done.

When your goals are written out, summarize them on 3 x 5 cards. Then, review those cards every morning and every night. Every hour or so during the day, take them out and read them.

Saturate your mind with what you'll accomplish and the person you'll become.

Realize that you're a creature of habit. Remember, you can control your habits and make yourself a person of action, not just one who sets goals but one who accomplishes them!