A US executive I once worked with said his company tended to ratchet up targets by 5-10% every year, automatically. At the time, market dynamics were very negative, so I assumed they would change their approach when setting a fresh round of goals. However, senior executives increased targets for the following year in the same reflexive manner.
These new goals were a fantasy; there was no hope of reaching them.
As dread and then helplessness set in for his team, my client worked tirelessly to maintain morale, advance strategic projects and preserve market share. He knew his success could only be measured by minimizing failure, though ‘the budget’ could only register expected goal achievement, not heroic damage control.
In the end, he missed his number by a mile. In the annual performance review, his boss said, “I have to give you the lowest rating.” He replied, but the goal was never realistic. “You missed your number.” But the market was slow. “You missed your number.” But I made other strategic contributions. “You missed your number.”
This scenario reminded me of former US President Lyndon Johnson’s words about pursuing another seemingly impossible goal, extracting the country from the Vietnam War in 1964: “I feel like a hitchhiker caught in a hailstorm on a Texas highway. I can’t run, I can’t hide, and I can’t make it stop.”
I have one other (shorter) story on this theme. A leader once told me, “When I took this job, a senior executive said to me, ‘You need to understand that your job in this role is to make money, and that it will never… be… enough. It will never be enough.’”
The problem with unrelenting pressure
Goal pressure is a characteristic of organizational life and a crucial accelerator of performance for leaders and companies. However, I’ve recently noticed more examples of relentless goal pressure, a different animal that accomplishes nothing but destroys motivation.
This position sounds subversive, that I’m opposed to progress, hard work and ambition. No, instead, I’m sounding a warning about passing beyond a point where goal pressure morphs from a high-performance stimulant to a motivational poison.
Leaders need to set goals to entice people to reach for levels of performance they haven’t conceived – that’s their job. The question isn’t whether to push, but how to do it effectively.
7 ways goal pressure becomes toxic
Excessive stretch goals: Stretch goals are objectives that appear impossible to achieve. They’re intriguing – and were hyped by Jack Welch and Jim Collins years ago – but are incredibly risky. If the goal seems impossible, the team gives up or burns out trying to reach it.
Cumulative goal pressure: Sometimes, relentless goal pressure arrives as a clutter of moderately difficult goals. This happens when leaders add new tasks without subtracting redundant or non-strategic ones.
Goals without proportional resources: Resources and supports influence how much challenge people can tolerate. Goals feel easier when accompanied by significant resources, and harder when accompanied by few or none.
Ignoring context: As mentioned, this involves ramping up targets in an automatic way, without considering the context. This may happen because companies yearn for consistency, assume past success will continue or want to preserve their identity as a “winner.” This mechanical approach overlooks what’s happening in the market, other competing change initiatives and the team’s fatigue level.
Frequent goal changes: Sometimes leaders change the goal before it can be achieved, to chase a more aspirational idea or a more perfect solution. In these cases, team members may feel their efforts were squandered, that the new goal is unattainable or that they’ve lost trust in the leader.
Constant criticism: In this case, no matter how much effort is exerted or how polished the output, the work is never quite good enough. This pattern can emerge when companies start assuming praise is indulgent and only criticism can drive excellence.
Excessively long-term orientation: If the target is too distant, team members may feel that any progress they make is minuscule compared to the project scale.
The impact
Keep in mind that this issue affects team members at all levels. Most of the people I work with are leaders who’ve described how deflating it is to be on the receiving end of relentless pressure.
And when this phenomenon touches senior leaders, turnover risk skyrockets. These people’s career histories are narratives of triumph, and they’re used to making them feel like winners. Depriving them of feeling successful – ever – may tempt them to look elsewhere for the “winning” experiences that validate their self-perceptions.
A better approach
Leaders need to challenge their teams, but they must do so without being too intense or too frequent, as this can demotivate others. What’s the solution?
Be Selective: Not everything can be important all the time. Reduce the number of challenging goals and allow teams to spend more time and energy on fewer, bolder goals.
Discard Irrelevant Tasks: Convene periodic meetings to seek and destroy non-strategic tasks, goals and objectives.
Maintain Consistency: Unless a cataclysmic event occurs, stick to aligned goals and give team members a chance to taste success and relief.
Consider Context: Context whispers clues to leaders about how much to challenge. Understand organizational changes, fatigue levels and available resources before setting goals.
Provide Proportional Support: When setting a challenging goal, couple it with significant support for the team.
Try Short-term Intensity: Set very difficult goals, but with very short time horizons. If you can see the finish line, anything feels possible. 100-day plan, anyone?
Leaders need to challenge teams beyond their comfort zones; otherwise, they’re just caretaking. However, relentless goal pressure isn’t the answer; it’s highly demotivating and ultimately destroys value within the company. Instead, can we set goals and challenges in more selective, thoughtful and disciplined ways that encourage peak performance, while preserving motivation and relationships? I think we can.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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