School was wrong and this is why.

10 out of 10 is not great.

Leading your people and getting better at that is a JOURNEY. Not a destination.

It is a journey of constant growth and improvement. Reset and reframe. Review and restart.

But schools damaged our ability to develop as leaders.

They told us to set goals, work hard and hit them and if we do not then we have failed in some way. 

The focus of schools is wrongly on the destination (goal) not the journey (development). 

The journey is the important part as that’s when we develop and grow.

It can feel demotivating if we just focus on landing at the goal.  Some goals we will never meet but we will make significant progress on the way to them.

Setting a goal and not scoring ten out of 10 has been drilled into us as failure in some way: that’s why we get disappointed silver medallists at the Olympics!

This is not how leadership works.

As leaders we need to always be setting new and better standards and goals. Consistently working towards being BETTER, that’s real leadership. 

Our destination should always be evolving, so that we are challenged, learning.

Our goal should be BETTER, IMPROVE, EVOLVE and GROW. Deliverables and skills are part of our journey. Not an end.

If we reach our destination and stay there, we have stopped learning. That is when a fixed mindset creeps in, and we become stagnant. Being a “great leader” today will need different ingredients 5 years from now. Which is why we must constantly evolve our goals and capabilities to fit our context.

We need to always be moving to a destination. Here are eight tips to help you on your way:

1. Commit but do not lose sight that your journey has many different goals.

2.  Review progress regularly. Set and reset goals to stay on track.

3. Reflect on relevance of the goals. Stay honest but do not be fickle.

4. Stretch will help you feel challenged and keep you striving more.

5. Greater strength or more capability usually results from longer term goals.

6. Feedback on your performance keeps things real, like a third-party audit

7. Reward yourself at key intervals. Motivation needs indulgence as well as discipline.

8. Never stop trying to get BETTER. When you stop trying, you stop growing.

Are you a destination or a journey person? I find goals help me focus but the journey is more motivating.