Probably the most subtly evil of the fake goals are the ones which are double standards.

The goals that you hold everyone to account except yourself.

As attractive as the option might be to those who think their position entitles them to certain flexibility as regards their own accountability, it is a credibility-destroyer.

First, double standards undermine any positive motivation your team may have been able to derive out of having a set of ambitious goals.

Once you remove yourself from the accountable team, the motivation shifts from achievement to measurement; and the focus shifts from working hard to avoiding judgment.

Secondly, you just fired yourself from the team. You put yourself on a different team. Instead of you being accountable for ensuring the team’s success, you make the team accountable for your success.

I promise you, they won’t embrace that responsibility enthusiastically. Instead of getting 110% from a highly motivated team, you will barely get 51% (or whatever you passing grade is).

Listen in.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 28th, 2011 at 7:47 am and is filed under Fake Goals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.