Using SMART Goals to Advance Your Leadership Career

I think we all want to be smart about goal-setting when we’re working on developing our leadership skills – that’s a given. But did you know that there are actually a set of SMART criteria that may take your efforts to the next level? 

What Are SMART Goals?

This acronym attempts to explain the criteria that make an objectively effective goal. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Based. Leaders in many industries use SMART criteria to generate better results in project management, employee performance, and more. When you are setting your goals during your Edina leadership development, your business coach will help you use these guidelines to address potential areas of improvement.

Specific and Relevant Leadership Smart Goals

When you’re initially creating your goals, the two most important things to consider are whether they are 1) specific and 2) relevant. A relevant goal is one that will improve your leadership skills in some way. For example, maybe you want to become more proficient at Microsoft Powerpoint. Upon initial consideration, you may have a hard time connecting this to your ultimate goal of becoming a better leader. But if your employees are more engaged during meetings because your presentations are more interesting, it could pay to invest time into improving your Powerpoint skills! 

It’s up to you to decide what’s most relevant to your career, but your business coach may be able to help. Business coaching and leadership training coaches in Edina, MN have worked with other clients to develop SMART goals and are familiar with some of the most common hard and soft skills their clients want to improve. Your coach can help you make important connections and determine how to prioritize during your free time. 

Creating specific goals is the first step toward being able to measure your progress. Becoming better at Powerpoint may seem specific enough, but how will you measure your improvements? Consider taking steps like signing up for a class by a certain date, obtaining a certificate, or spending X number of hours working on Powerpoints in the next month. As you can see, these goals are all specific and measurable. 

Measuring Progress

Business coaching is all about setting timelines and guidelines for yourself, especially during the initial planning stage. When you create specific and measurable goals, you can easily track your progress and adjust as needed to help yourself stay on track. 

Let’s use our previous example of improving your Powerpoint skills. How can you measure your progress to make sure you stay on track? First, you can create a deadline for enrolling in a Powerpoint class. If you meet with your coach twice a month, you may give yourself the two weeks between meetings to get signed up. Then, while you’re taking the class, you can commit to practicing for three hours each week. If you find that this is too much to take on at once, it’s easy to adjust your to-do list to make sure you have time to address your daily needs. Once you’ve obtained your certificate, you’ll reflect on the process, noting successes and challenges. Then it’s time to move on to your next SMART Goals for leadership development!