Lead SMART Leaders

The SMART Way to Lead

Throughout my life, I have led projects. Projects have a beginning and an end. To reach that end successfully, goals are essential. Goals enable us to complete the deliverables that move a project forward. They can be seen as the strategic building blocks of a project. For more than 20 years, I worked in business environments where setting goals and achieving deliverables is what guarantees a paycheck every two weeks.

I spent the other 11 years of my professional life working in ministry. During the first five years, I led the launch of an organization from the ground up, and it was a great experience. Hitting our goals was non-negotiable unless something well justified caused us to change course, which can happen in any project. After that project, I joined another organization where the concept of "goals" was a little strange. Unlike the best practices of project management, this organization viewed goals as something to be hoped for, but not necessarily achieved. One experience I had as a department head was meeting with a team member and questioning the goals he had submitted for my approval. My first question was: is this achievable? His answer was: what do you mean? I want to do all of this. I’m not sure I can, but I want to. The goals were not achievable, and I knew it. So, as the department leader, I said: please spend more time on this and make these goals achievable; I want to be able to measure your deliverables. He looked at me and said: that’s not how I set goals.

Leaders must be able to lead SMART. In 1981, George Doran, Arthur Miller, and James Cunningham wrote an article titled "There's a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management goals and objectives", which created a framework for setting goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. Leaders can measure the team’s deliverables when goals are created with these attributes. Along the way, they can mentor their team to become better at what they do, what they deliver, and how they contribute to the success of the projects. Why? Because every organization needs RESULTS. That is how we achieve the deliverables that allow us to complete projects successfully and move our organizations forward.

Are you taking the SMART approach in your leadership?