Talent Transformation Expert Ed Krow Emphasizes Proper Goal Setting for Business Leaders

Being in a leadership position in a business is no easy task. To paraphrase Shakespeare: “Heavy is the head that wears the crown.” The decisions made by a business leader, such as a CEO or company president, have huge repercussions all over an organization, and these are ultimately responsible for the business’ success or failure. Much of these decisions have something to do with setting the organization’s goals and direction, which is why a leader must be able to correctly set goals, according to talent transformation expert Ed Krow. 

In coaching clients, Krow recalls a famous time management analogy about having a jar and having to fit as many rocks, pebbles, and sand in it as possible. Putting the sand in first will leave no more room for the rocks and pebbles, which is why the largest rocks should be put in first, followed by the pebbles, and the sand last, with the smaller objects filling in the spaces between the larger ones. 

In business goal setting, Krow says the rocks are the large, strategic overarching goals, also known as business imperatives. If they don’t get done, the business fails. The pebbles are the smaller goals that flesh out or contribute to the fulfillment of the larger goals. Lastly, the sand, which will sift through the rocks and pebbles, represents the daily tasks or minutiae that leaders shouldn’t sweat too much about. 

“This goal setting exercise gives clarity on not only what's important for the business, but also the leadership team, and how everyone should be contributing to reach those goals moving forward. But many people often ask, ‘what happens if one of us drops our rock?’” 

Krow shares one of the clients he has worked with, where the company is privately held and controlled by two families, and the business has four divisions. Two of the divisions are doing all the heavy lifting for the company. The third division is doing quite well, but it's not at its full potential. Meanwhile, the fourth division is failing, and it's mostly because of its leader, who is a very task-oriented person and doesn't understand the importance of goal setting. He doesn't understand how to bring revenue in, and he can't share the vision with his team. This results in the team members just staying back and awaiting orders, which is not conducive to growth. According to Krow, all he has in his bucket is sand, so all he can build are sandcastles. 

“He doesn't want to lift any rocks,” Krow says. “And, frankly, in this case, I think he's scared to move rocks around because he's afraid he's going to move the wrong rock. Often, when I see leaders fail, it’s because they’re unable to get their people to buy in or they are unable to stretch themselves enough, because they’re afraid to fail.” 

Krow works with business leader clients to improve their goal-setting, helping them to understand the “why” behind the goals and ensure that they're attainable. He also teaches leaders how to inspire their people to go hit those goals, which is by making them feel involved in the process and that their input and effort is valuable for success. 

When prioritizing goals and tasks, Krow says leaders should sort them into four quadrants based on effort needed and impact to the organization. 

“Low-effort, low-impact things are the routine tasks that still need to be done, but don't matter much in the big picture. There are also high-effort but low-impact matters, which are known as thankless tasks. Leaders must learn to delegate the tasks in these two quadrants. Going up the ladder, there are low-effort but high-impact tasks. Many bosses love these, as they are easy wins. However, good leaders shouldn’t become too preoccupied with cherry picking in their comfort zone. It’s the high-effort and high-impact where quality leaders should be spending the bulk of their time.” 

Another thing that Krow says leaders should avoid is becoming part of what he calls the “Jelly of the Month Club”, where a boss focuses on one thing and then, a short time later, drops it and focuses on another. This results in employees being unmotivated to do anything or to take initiative, because they know that the boss keeps on changing the game. They just sit there waiting for orders. According to Krow, he has worked with one such leader, who is unable to decide on a concrete direction for the company. As soon as they encounter a challenge or roadblock, they just give up and want to do something else. In one instance, the majority owner  got angry with two of the people who took initiative to do the preliminary work to enter the business in a famous business pitch reality show, causing conflict while failing to see their good intentions.  

“She surrounded herself with a good, talented group, but she doesn't listen to them. I think she doesn’t want to let the reins go and let her team really run with it, because then she won't get the accolades for it,” Krow says. “This is what differentiates the bad from the good business leaders. Capable CEOs are paid handsomely because they are able to make the critical decisions and they’re ultimately responsible for thousands of people's livelihoods. That’s a huge burden for anyone.” 

These examples show how a business can either thrive or flounder, based on a leadership team's ability to set proper goals and then rally their teams to work hard towards those goals. When was the last time you evaluated your company's goals, and the ability of your team to hit those goals?