Page 42 - The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership

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Introduction

In the chapter on Time management, the importance of identifying
goals and making plans was outlined in relation to managing your
time, in order to achieve the goals/objectives that you set and where
the progress toward them could then be measured.
What do the words ‘goal’ and ‘objective’ mean? Defining them can
assist in setting your goals/objectives.
A goal is the end towards which effort or ambition is directed. As
a word it has its origins in ‘the point marking the end of a race’ or
‘posts between which a ball is to be driven’. Goal-setting is a
successful way to approach life-planning.
An objective (a word with military associations) is an end towards
which effort is directed.

So goals/objectives define the end or purpose which is being aimed
for.

Goals and objectives can be used in your personal and business/
professional life and successful outcomes result from taking a strategic
approach to your life and your work.
In a strategic approach, your aspirations need to be fixed in the form
of goals/objectives. Strategy is then the way of devising plans and
using stratagems (the devices/means) towards achieving the
goals/objectives. (Objective and strategy are both words with military
connotations and origins).

Personal goals and objectives

The starting point is to self-assess and take stock of yourself in the
overall context of the direction you would like to be heading.

32 The John Adair Handbook of Management and Leadership