Goal setting sounds easy but at the end of the day, it is a very specific process.  Anyone can set any type of goal but by using the following technique, you can achieve greater results.  The key is to set SMART goals.

• 1. S: Specific:  We must be very clear and concise when setting a goal.  We can’t just say we want to cut labor, that will most likely never happen because we were not specific.  This general statement may mean various things to various people so you could have 5 people all chasing a different goal.  By using specific goals, we set the stage for accountability which usually leads to success.  If you set the goal that all five people need to lower labor by 2% next week when asked what the goal is, they should all arrive at the same answer.
• 2. M: Measurable:  This also ties in with specific but goes to the next step towards creating the eventual accountability piece.  Our goals must be measurable to help us break it down into small bite size pieces so we can create some momentum.  The big goal may be to cut labor by 2%.  The bite size piece would be to say we need to cut 40 hours from the schedule next week.  This will help create a process to hold people accountable on a weekly basis for their actions.  As humans, most of us tend to procrastinate so by creating measurable goals every day, week or month we can gain traction towards the larger, big picture goal.  It may even go deeper to the actions that lead to the result.  The measurable goal could be that there should be no +3 figures on our hourly labor coverage graphs when writing the schedule. 
• 3. A: Achievable:  This is key to keep morale high.  We need to create a stretch goal so that we push a little outside our comfort zone, but it needs to be possible.  As we gain momentum and traction towards the goal people get excited and usually beat the initial time frame set.  At the same point if people hear a crazy, unachievable goal day after day they won’t even try.  We can’t cut 100 hours in a week but we could cut 10 hours per week over the next 10 weeks to make it more manageable.
• 4. R: Relative: This is often overlooked in setting  SMART goals.  Often times we get so excited to set goals that we forget what the real purpose is for the goal.  If our #1 goal is to cut labor, it doesn’t help us to set a goal to get 5 extra projects completed as this would only increase our labor demand.  Look at what the big picture is or areas of opportunity are in your store and decide which areas we need to focus on with our goals.  Again, this helps everyone get on the same page and working in the same direction.
• 5. T: Time Bound:  This is similar to the idea of being measurable but this takes measurable to the next level.  Yes we need to cut labor by 2%, but over how long?  If my goal was to simply cut labor by 2% I don’t think I would ever achieve it or even know when or why I was working towards it.  If it was to cut labor by 2% over the next two months this gives me an ultimatum.  With longer range goals we need to make sure that we have daily, weekly and even monthly sub goals that are time bound to help us track our progress, build momentum and stay on track or even adjust course if needed.
• 6. Accountability:  SMART goals are great but they ONLY work if people are held accountable for the results.  We may do great at setting the goals at the start of the shift but do we ask team members for progress reports during the shift and give feedback at the end of the shift?  If the goals were met, the feedback should be in the form of praise or even a Scoop Card.  If the goals were not met, we need to give feedback and ask what can be done differently on their next shift to achieve the goal.
• One final thought.  Goals without commitment are useless.  You can set any goal you would like but if you do not define what you are willing to commit to everyday to achieve the goal you will most likely not see results.  After you write down your goal, write down your commitments! 

When we look to hire or promote a new potential leader there are a few key characteristics to look for during the selection process.  There is one initial question to ask when it comes to an internal promotion right from the start.  As their direct supervisor, do you find that they are working up in their current position helping you achieve your goals & vision or do you end up having to work down to help them accomplish their duties?  This is a very simple litmus test to see if they are ready to advance.  If they struggle with this in their current role, it will only be magnified once they have more responsibility.  Here are 6 qualities that I feel are present in our successful leaders.  Remember that the leader will instill their qualities upon the entire team.  

• 1. Ownership mindset.  We want someone to lead the organization that feels accountable to the level of an owner.  Are they looking at ways to improve the bottom line?  Are they concerned when something breaks as they know it will cost money to replace?  Do they have a “whatever it takes” attitude to get the job done?  Are they are willing to come in early and to stay late when needed?
• 2. Enthusiasm / positive attitude.  The leader sets the tone for the entire shift.  The leader is the thermostat and most of the time others will adjust to the temperature which the leader chooses to set.  It is very important for the leader to bring the energy level up every shift.  Very seldom do the team members out perform the leader, it is up to us to set the standard.  We need to find someone that can be a blow torch of positivity.  
• 3. Willing to learn.  A great leader realizes that they don’t know everything.  A great leader always wants to learn and improve their own skill set.  In every manager interview I like to ask what books or podcasts they have read or listened to in the past year.  My personal goal every day is to be a better version of myself today than I was yesterday.  We need leaders that are able to inspire others to learn and improve themselves and the best way to make this happen is to be open themselves to new ideas. 
• 4. Have a 360 degree view.  This is one of the biggest differences between a team member and a leader.  The team member usually only pays attention to what is happening in their area, not the entire business.  Our goal is to find people that are able to be present and engaged in the entire business.  When they walk into the store for interview put a piece of trash a little out of reach and see what they do.  When they sit down ask them what was the first thing they noticed when they pulled into the parking lot.  This will give you a great first impression as to if they have tunnel vision or a 360 degree view.    
• 5. Dependability.  Does the person show up for every shift?  If they are not dependable as a team member they will not be dependable as a leader.  Were they on time or early for the interview?  Being in a service business, our work cannot just pile up on our desk, we need to be present every day to get the job done. 
• 6. Care about others.  As Steven Covey said “people don’t care about what you know until they know how much you care.”  It was also said that rules without relationship lead to rebellion.  If a leader doesn’t care about the team members they will not be effective.  The entire team needs to buy into the vision and buy into the leader to keep pushing forward.  People will perform for a short time out of fear but they will also look to leave the company as soon as they can.  One of the most important keys to becoming a great leader is to be able to give someone direction without causing resentment or making them feel judged.  If we can show that we care about the person they will feel that we are giving direction in order to help them become a better person.  
• Look at your current leaders and assess where each of them would rank in these 6 areas.  Is there one area that you would like to improve on yourself?  For me the number one area I have improved upon over the past 5 years has been to care more about others and build better relationships. 

Being a leader is an ongoing process for everyone.  During my lifetime I have experienced both amazing and terrible bosses.  I myself have been both a terrible leader as well as a much improved leader based on the season of my life.  The key to improvement is to learn from every situation and interaction that we experience. Below I have listed 11 common actions that I have witnessed lead to lowering team member morale. 

• 1. Under communicate.  Our team needs to hear our voice.  Even if it isn’t what they want to hear, at least they get an answer.  The problems will not fix themselves.  It is always easier to solve a problem immediately when it occurs.  Be specific and direct.   
• 2. Scolding a team member in public.  This is a sure fire way to lower morale.  Not only does it lower morale but it seems like the more we criticize the wrong items in public, the more these behaviors repeat themselves.       
• 3. Inconsistency. Flip / Flop.  People like to know what is expected and they get easily frustrated when the expectations change often and apparently for no reason.  If something does need to change, give the reason why.     
• 4. Be vague, make people read your mind.  It is unfair to judge people and hold people accountable if we were not clear on the expectations from the start.  If you tell 4 people the same vague sentence, you will most likely get 4 separate outcomes.   
• 5. Focus on superficial items.  Sometimes we spend too much time focusing on the little items that really don’t have a large impact on our day.  All it does it put you in a bad mood and creates a negative mindset.  
• 6. Make every meeting a monologue.  If we do not have a two sided conversation and ask for input from the team, we will not get the full traction needed for success.  Ask questions so people know that you want their input.  Even more powerful is to ask a follow up question.  
• 7. Don’t acknowledge success.  Most team members want to naturally do their best and succeed.  One of the best fuels we have to keep people performing to their potential is to acknowledge and reward success.  Praise in public, praise what you want to see repeated by others and praise daily.  This will automatically turn the culture towards positive. 
• 8. You are always right. One thing that will endear yourself to your team is to admit that something was your fault.  Taking the blame for a situation can really help others feel safe about sharing ideas and being held to the same standards. 
• 9. Pass the buck.  Along the same line is passing the buck.  Team members lose respect for leaders that always place the blame somewhere else.  At the end of the day the leader is responsible for the teams’ performance.  It is hard to expect others to take responsibility if the wrong example is set by the leader.  Our company coat of arms should not point at each other.
• 10. Be negative / reactive.  Negativity breads negativity the same way positivity attracts positivity.  People don’t leave jobs, they leave bosses.  Some team members spend up to 25% of their life every week with us, the last thing they want is a negative work environment.  For that matter, it isn’t fair to anyone to create this type of environment.  Remember that losers react, leaders anticipate!
• 11. Don’t have a heart.  Team members need to know that we care.  Everyone is human yet at times we expect everyone to be perfect.  We all know that life happens and when it does we need to be understanding and ask if we can help.  We need to really connect with our team and if someone is “off” we should know immediately and ask if we can help.  We need to find the balance of being tough on the policy but easy on the person.     
• Try to rate yourself on these 11 items and see if there is one area that you could improve over the next 30 days. 

• To me, discipline is one of the biggest keys to success.  I have adopted Nick Saban’s definition of discipline; “discipline is doing what you are supposed to do, how you are supposed to do it, when it is supposed to be done.  In other words it’s doing the right thing, the right way, at the right time.  Discipline is formed from your thoughts, your habits and your priorities.”  This is such a simple yet powerful way to look at discipline.  Discipline is formed from the inside out, the only person that can truly create discipline is you.    
• The first step in buying into discipline is that you must have your “why.”  You must know what you want to ultimately achieve in order to have the discipline to stay on the path every day.  It has been said by many people that if you lose your “why” you will lose your “way.”  As we talked about last week, people love to find an excuse to not get something done.  If you can stay focused on the big picture it is easy to say yes to the daily habits needed to win.
• When it comes to discipline I live by the saying that “grinders win.”  Look at coach Saban. Why is he always on top?  The answer is “the process.”  Look at Cal Ripken.  Why was he such a great ball player?  He showed up every day.  Look at John Lee Dumas of EO Fire. Why is he a top podcaster?  He does a podcast every day of the year!  These people are on top in their industry because they show up and have the discipline to do what needs to be done every day to get better. 
• Being a “grinder” is half the battle.  To have true, long term success a grinder needs to be intentional about what they do.  Anyone can work 60+ hours per week, the difference is what you get done with those hours.  If you’re not intentional and productive being a grinder will eventually lead to burn out and losing your “why.”  We need to be an “intentional grinder.”
• When someone asked Steven King how to become a great writer, he simply said; “great writers write.”  When Jon Gordon was asked how to become a great speaker, he said; “great speakers speak.”  It sounds overly simple but at the end of the day this is the simple truth.  If we want to improve and become better at doing something we need to do whatever that is as much as possible.  The discipline to follow the process will lead to success. 
• Ask yourself what you really want to accomplish and if what you are doing every day is getting you closer to that goal?  Do you show up every day?  Are you intentional with what you are doing?  Are you doing it the right way to achieve success?   

I want to start today with another great quote by Jim Rohn.  “If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way.  If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse”.  This is the first quote that I put into my head every morning.  I am just like everyone else reading this post, busy.  In the past I had always used the excuse of being too busy as an excuse to not get something done.   The bottom line is that life happens to everyone. 

• We all have 24 hours per day and 168 hours per week, the difference is how we use that time.  If you had to pay for every minute you spent doing certain things, would you?  As we have talked about in previous posts we need to set the level of importance in order to get things done.  Do the most important items first.  We must be intentional with our time and clearly block out a certain amount of time for the most important items.  Write down your top 2 items that you want to accomplish each day and focus on those two items first.  So many times we put off the important tasks because they are hard or time consuming, thus they never get accomplished.  They key to getting these tasks done is to build up the momentum by working on bite sized pieces every day.
• Another key to getting things done is having the right mindset.  Our thoughts become our actions and our actions become our circumstances.  So many times we blame our circumstances on why we couldn’t get something done.  We fail to realize that by controlling our thoughts and actions we can redefine our circumstances.  It is amazing how many times we start with a negative thought for the day that the day ends up turning out negative.  Is that because you were right or because you didn’t do anything to change the course? 
• For me the real key to getting things accomplished is to use the bookends of the day.  I can get the most accomplished both at the start of the day and at the end of the day.  Even if the middle gets blown up by interruptions I can control how I start and end each day.  Build morning and night routines to help stay on track with those important daily activities. 
• The last question to ask yourself is who dictates your time?  Who decides what is important for you to accomplish?  Being intentional means that you are able to decide how to spend your time.  Challenge yourself to make a daily list of at least two items that you will get done.  When you find yourself playing a game, on social media or even watching TV, ask yourself if that was in the top two items of your list.  Keep track of when you give an excuse, what is the excuse?  What is the real excuse? 

What you feed grows and what you starve dies.  In Phoenix, AZ I see both lush green yards and dead grass on the same block.  How many times have you looked at someone’s else yard and wondered why their yard looks so green?  Often times we think if we just move, we could enjoy the greener grass with no extra effort.  The reality is that our yard started out just as green but due to our actions or inaction it changed.  The real reason that others’ yards look better is because they feed it more than we do. 

• This idea shows itself in many different aspects of our lives.  What positive daily habits do we have that feed our productive self and what daily habits do we have that feed our negative self?  Either positive or negative, these daily habits compound over time and turn into momentum.  On the positive side, this momentum propels us up to reach our goals.  On the negative side, this momentum can spiral us down the wrong path. 
• This is one of the keys to helping overcome addiction as well; you have to starve it out by replacing the bad habits with good ones.  One way to eliminate almost any negative habit is to find what triggers the habit in the first place.  Once we find the trigger we need to be prepared to take an alternate action when the trigger situation arises.  The more we can retrain our mind to follow a different course of action after the trigger occurs, the more we can use these triggers to create positive outcomes.    
• They say it is easy to get on a path of mastery, yet hard to stay on it.  The key is to start small, become consistent and grow at a reasonable pace.  The issue with society is that we don’t like the long term win, we all look for short term results.  Sometimes our daily wins are so small that we can’t even see them but over time the change can be massive.  You must continue to feed those actions and habits daily to see the effect.  A farmer doesn’t go from seed to fruit, it takes a lot of feeding and caring for the crop over time to produce fruit.  We need to focus on the process, not just the results.  Sometimes the results are not very noticeable along the way but if we stick true to the process, it does eventually produce results.
• This idea also can have the same effect on our thoughts.  The more we think about and focus on something, the higher the chance of it happening.  I believe it is very true that our thoughts become our reality.  It is amazing how others seem to live up to or fall down to our thoughts and comments as well.  If we remain positive and focus on gratitude it is a lot easier for us to have great results vs. the people that are negative and hateful. 
• As we relate this to our business we need to ask ourselves as leaders: what do we allow to grow in our organization and what do we need to starve out and kill?  We need to remember not to look the other way hoping that something will die on its own, chances are that someone else is watering the negative side of the action.  When it comes to what we encourage to grow in our company, it all starts with feedback.  Constant feedback is the water for the culture in our business.  The more we point something out, the more it will be repeated, for good or bad.    
• Have a great week and challenge yourself to feed something positive!