Achieving results as a leader — learn why you’re not and how to fix it.
4 Reasons Why You Aren’t Achieving Results as a Transformational Leader
If you’re interested in learning about transformational leadership, of course achieving results is one of your main priorities.
There’s a reason that the team leader takes responsibility for the team’s performance. It’s leadership’s responsibility to set the tone and make sure the team has the tools they need to succeed.
Why does the responsibility for the team’s performance come down to the leadership?
Because you, as a transformational leader, are setting the tone. You’re in charge of determining the goals. Of course, that means looking at the organization and what it needs to reach and exceed the next benchmark. But it also means knowing your team. Understanding what they need to succeed and achieve excellence.
One of my all-time favorite inspirational speakers and authors is Zig Ziglar.
You’ve probably heard of Zig. If you’ve read any amazing quotes about leadership, you’ve read some of the things he said. And Zig had some things to say about the reasons why leadership didn’t get results.
Zig said, “You can’t hit a target you cannot see, and you cannot see a target you do not have.”
Specific goals are integral to success as a leader.
Not having specific enough goals is the number one reason you won’t get the results you’re looking for.
Achieving Results as a Leader Through Goal-Setting
“Don’t become a wandering generality. Become a meaningful specific.” – Zig Ziglar
How specific are the goals that you’ve set for the year?
One of my clients owns a business. We’ll call this client Bill.
Bill wants to generate $7 million of growth in his business for the upcoming year. As you can imagine, that’s a good size goal. When I sat down to talk with Bill about his goal, I recommended a goal-setting technique.
One of the things that I find very helpful in creating specific goals is a process I call, “scaffolding images”.
Imagine your journey is a ladder. The top of the ladder is your ultimate goal. But each rung of the ladder is a step in the process to get there.
Now, you see the ultimate goal. What do the rungs look like?
In other words, if you want to move up the ladder, what is the first rung or benchmark you need to hit? Then the second rung? Then the third?
You want to clearly visualize all of the rungs on your ladder. Once you know what benchmarks you need to hit, you can set timelines on making it to that rung.
How to Set Specific Goals as a Transformational Leader
The scaffolding images process I mentioned above helps you clarify your goals. You can break them into measurable steps that keep the end objective in mind.
It acts as a roadmap for how you achieve your goals. This way, you can stay focused on the final destination without taking unnecessary detours along the way.
Creative leaders often find new and innovative ideas. Sometimes you’ll find a brilliant strategy that you can pivot to use.
Sometimes it’s an amazing idea, but it doesn’t fit your overall strategy. If you have clear and specific goals, it’s much simpler to see if those new innovations fit your priorities.
A recent article in the Harvard Business Review talked about setting too many goals. You might have a list of things you’d like to accomplish. But you need to prioritize that list and determine your most important goal.
‘With too many goals, it’s impossible to fully visualize the process. You run the risk of going off track and not achieving many of them.
Scaffolding Images
One of the benefits of very specific goal-setting is that you know when you’re on track. If you set measurable targets, you can clearly see when you’re on target. You can stop and recognize, “Hey! I’m on my way!” or “I’m off track.”
Let’s take a personal goal for example. Maybe your goal is to become more fit. To do this, you want to shave two minutes off of your running time. To do that, you scaffold the images. You’re not going to try to shave two minutes off of your time the next time you run. You need to do it in stages.
Maybe you set the benchmark to shave thirty seconds from your time in the next two weeks. Once you achieve that goal, you aim for the next benchmark. Another thirty seconds. In a month’s time you’ll have shaved one minute from your running time.
In approaching it this way, you can clearly schedule your progress. You know that it will take you two months to shave two minutes from your running time.
Now, let’s look at a business example. You want to make more money.
Start with how much money you specifically want to make? What is the specific figure you want to increase your profits by?
Let’s say you’ve decided that you want to make an extra $10,000 by the end of the month. Break that down by the week.
Now we know that you need to increase your profits by $2,500 per week. The next step is to determine how. What do you have to sell or do to hit that benchmark per week?
4 Reasons You Aren’t Getting Results As A Leader
As a transformational leader, there are a few things that can prevent you from reaching your goals. But I’ve found these four reasons to be the most common issues.
Top four reasons you aren’t getting results:
- Your Goals Aren’t Specific Enough
- Aiming for the Top of the Ladder
- You Stop Learning
- You Forget Your Core Values
1—Your Goals Aren’t Specific Enough
I explained above why this is the most common reason that leaders don’t get results. To get specific, you need to be able to clearly visualize that goal. It needs to be measurable.
If your goal is to increase profits, name the amount of money. Name the percentage. Make it concrete.
2—Aiming for the Top of the Ladder
Having specific goals isn’t enough. I’ve seen people with very specific and achievable goals miss the mark. Because they were focusing on the top of the ladder.
They didn’t use the scaffolding images technique and they lost focus. Because that ultimate goal was too large without breaking it down into achievable, measurable benchmarks.
3—You Stop Learning
This is a crucial thing that all leaders need to commit to. Achieving a position of leadership doesn’t mean knowing everything you’ll ever need to know. Or that you should stop striving for progress.
In fact, it’s the opposite. The best leaders take the opportunity to learn from everything. Your team members are the best people to teach you about their position. Learning about new innovations in your industry will help you open the door for opportunities.
You won’t get the results you want if you aren’t constantly striving to learn and grow.
4—You Forget Your Core Values
Your core values impact your success as a leader in a powerful way. They are integral to living into your own purpose, which propels your success. But they also reinforce your integrity for your team and customers.
Keep your core values as a focal point. If you bring that passion of purpose into leadership, you ensure greater results and success.
Are You Ready to Unleash the Transformational Leader Within?
Zig Ziglar talked about goal setting for a specific reason. Clarifying your goals for your team eliminates the barrier to achieving the amazing results you want.
Once you learn to set specific goals and master the scaffolding strategy to fully envision the journey, you’ve knocked out the number one reason transformational leaders don’t get results. It can be a process to get it right.
That’s why the rungs on the ladder to your success are so important. They give you the pause you need to gauge your progress and pivot when you need to.
With these steps, you’ve improved your leadership skills immensely. But there is always more to learn!
That’s why I’m offering this free eBook to support you on your journey:
The 22 Great Qualities of a Transformational Leader
With this free resource, you’ll learn 22 of the most important transformational leadership qualities to inspire your team and create mind-blowing results. Download yours today.
