Honestly, my earlier post probably didn't give much insight into my feelings on this issue. My first job out of college was in sales and I was first introduced to goal setting strategies and encouraged to read all the sales books, all of which had a goal setting component. I actually found it helpful and interesting- this is all good stuff for a person who's primary goals have been to simply prepare for exams and get through college with a good grade point. I didn't even have specific goals laid out to have a good job after graduation. Not very good planning.
After a few years, I realized that sales was not for me; it was something I was able to do until I found something better. I spent most of my career after that in various areas of banking where they loved to talk about goals but there was little action. I, along with most all my colleagues, quickly got burned out on all the nonsense. The meetings were just taking time away from our real and productive work. Our new goal at these meetings was to attend their stupid meetings with a sense of humor, talk about how excited you were to use their newest strategy called (insert ACRONYM here) and your plans for achieving the company's goals, knowing that you wouldn't be implementing any of their crap because all would be forgotten and there would be no follow-up anyway. Before the end of the process, there would be a change of plans or some other distraction, a different training director would be hired or the bank was being acquired by a bigger bank with a different sales approach with an even better acronym. Blah, blah, blah. This is literally what entered my head going to these meetings after a while.
Anyway, fast forward to now. I work in a smaller accounting, tax and financial services firm with about 40 employees. The area that I work in isn't into meetings much and we're all very self-directed. We know what needs to get done and how to do it. Our team is accountable to ourselves and to the members of our team. We don't want to be a drag on the team or be seen as not pulling our own weight. Just get your work done and provide your clients with excellent service. Give them the same treatment (or better) that you would your own family (the ones you like). If you do this, they'll stay and they'll refer their friends and family and if you don't they'll leave.
With the work goals pretty much on auto-pilot, my current goals tend to be more focused on my personal life. This puts me in the same boat with many others here in this community I guess. I have goals of maintaining my weight and good health, spending enough time with family, and getting the work done around the house quickly so I can enjoy the rest of my time. Financially, I have goals to accumulate enough money in the next 9 years so I can FIRE, or cut back, or work if I want to and not because I have to.
After a few years, I realized that sales was not for me; it was something I was able to do until I found something better. I spent most of my career after that in various areas of banking where they loved to talk about goals but there was little action. I, along with most all my colleagues, quickly got burned out on all the nonsense. The meetings were just taking time away from our real and productive work. Our new goal at these meetings was to attend their stupid meetings with a sense of humor, talk about how excited you were to use their newest strategy called (insert ACRONYM here) and your plans for achieving the company's goals, knowing that you wouldn't be implementing any of their crap because all would be forgotten and there would be no follow-up anyway. Before the end of the process, there would be a change of plans or some other distraction, a different training director would be hired or the bank was being acquired by a bigger bank with a different sales approach with an even better acronym. Blah, blah, blah. This is literally what entered my head going to these meetings after a while.
Anyway, fast forward to now. I work in a smaller accounting, tax and financial services firm with about 40 employees. The area that I work in isn't into meetings much and we're all very self-directed. We know what needs to get done and how to do it. Our team is accountable to ourselves and to the members of our team. We don't want to be a drag on the team or be seen as not pulling our own weight. Just get your work done and provide your clients with excellent service. Give them the same treatment (or better) that you would your own family (the ones you like). If you do this, they'll stay and they'll refer their friends and family and if you don't they'll leave.
With the work goals pretty much on auto-pilot, my current goals tend to be more focused on my personal life. This puts me in the same boat with many others here in this community I guess. I have goals of maintaining my weight and good health, spending enough time with family, and getting the work done around the house quickly so I can enjoy the rest of my time. Financially, I have goals to accumulate enough money in the next 9 years so I can FIRE, or cut back, or work if I want to and not because I have to.