Ep: 008 Setting Goals and Expectations

Welcome back to Bread to Lead, the podcast that empowers you to unleash your leadership potential in making a lasting impact.

I'm your host, Dr. J.
Taylor Jacobs, and I'm on a mission to help you cultivate the mindset and skills to lead with purpose, authenticity and heart.

Let's get it. Change agents.
Listen, listen. In our last episode, we explored the art and science of developing and empowering your team.
We dug into self-determination theory and three key drivers of intrinsic motivation. First one, autonomy.
Second one, competence. And a third one, relatedness.
And we looked at practical strategies for nurturing these needs in your day-to-day leadership so you can help your people grow, thrive, and reach their full potential. Today, we're building on that foundation and tackling another critical aspect of people first leadership, setting clear, compelling goals and expectations.
Because how can you hold someone accountable if you don't have anything to account to? This is the skill that allows you to align and inspire your team around a shared vision or success. It's what enables you to turn that vision into reality by translating it into concrete actions, milestones, and accountability.
And it is what sets the stage for ongoing coaching, feedback, and development to help your people stretch and achieve their best. But here's the thing, setting effective goals and expectations is harder than it looks.
It's not just about declaring a lofty aspiration or demanding better results. It's about striking the right balance between ambition and achievability, between clarity and flexibility, between challenge and support.
It requires you to deeply understand the unique strengths, motivations, and growth areas of each team member and to adapt your approach accordingly. In fact, research by Gallup shows that only about half of employees strongly agree that they know what's expected of them at work.
And even fewer, just 21 percent strongly agree that their performance is managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work. This is a huge missed opportunity for leaders to engage and empower their teams.

But when you get goal setting right. Oh, my goodness.
Oh, let me let me just don't. You're going to get a standing ovation.
OK, standing ovation. Let's do it again.
Can you tell I just start getting sounds? The impact can be transformational. A study by Harvard Business School found that setting specific challenging goals led to a 15 to 20 percent increase in performance compared to simply encouraging people to do their best.

And a meta analysis of 35 years of research showed that teams with clear shared goals achieved up to 30% higher performance than those without. So how can you leverage the power of goals and expectations to bring out the best in your people? How can you co-create a compelling vision and roadmap for success that inspires and motivates everyone to dig deep? And how can you build the ongoing accountability and support to make that vision a reality while still empowering your team to own the journey completely? These are the questions we'll be exploring in today's episode, drawing on the latest research and real-world examples from top-performing teams and organizations.
We'll look at the key components of effective goal-setting, the common pitfalls in best practices, and the mindset shifts required to lead this process with intention and care, because leadership is a delicate sport. Whether you're setting goals for the first time with a new team or looking to up-level your skills with an existing one, this episode is packed with actionable insights and tools to help you lead with greater clarity, clarity, confidence, and impact.
So grab a notepad, grab a pen, get a bite to eat, get yourself together. Let's dive here first.
So the first key to setting powerful goals and expectations is to start with the end in mind. This means getting crystal clear on the ultimate outcome or vision of success that you're aiming for.
Not just the immediate task or metrics, but the deeper purpose and impact you want to achieve. Like for an example, when, you know, we're talking to in a health care space, we're talking to the SPD, sterile processing departments.
One of the biggest things we like to point out is, yes, your day to day is to make sure that the instruments are perfect and ready for the doctors to go and perform their surgery. Think about it.
We're weapons masters, I like to call us. We're the blacksmiths.

We're the people that make sure that the that the warriors that are upstairs fighting the war and saving lives have everything that they need. So if the goal is we just need to get all the cases done and we just need to make sure all the equipment's out the door and then we're good.
No, the goal should be not only are we going to make sure that the instruments are good.

We want to make sure that

the instruments are good, we want to make sure that upstairs the doctors have a flawless experience. So if something goes awry on that table, they can call for the instrument that they need.
And not only will the instrument be there, it will be clean and it will be ready for surgery. So not only do the goals have to get them excited to perform, but they have to also include a bigger, more audacious goal.
Not just what's our turnaround time within our department. No.
How can we ensure that the surgeries have no blowback when it comes to needing instruments from our department? That is flawless. Always having everything and everything's on point.
Those are the things that we have to worry about. Our framework that I love for this is called the big, hairy, audacious goal or bag.
I said, get in your bag. Get in your bag.
It's coined by Jim Collins and Jerry Porce in their classes. Their classic book, Build to Last.
And bag is a long term 10, 30 year goal. This is both ambitious and compelling, something that stretches your team beyond their current capabilities and inspires them to redefine what is possible.
Some famous examples of bag include or some call it BHAG, I just like to call it bag just to let people know getting a bag. Microsoft's early goal to put a computer on every desk in every home.
That was a bag. Amazon's vision to be the Earth's most customer-centric company.
That was a big bag. Tesla's mission to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable

energy. Bag.
SpaceX is aimed to enable human settlement on Mars. Now that's a bag.
And notice how these big, hairy, audacious goals are not just financial targets or market position, but aspirational statements of purpose and impact.

They paint a vivid picture of a future state that is both daunting and exciting, something that rallies the team around a shared sense of meaning and mission. So our bag here at SIPS is that every hospital facility uses our SIPS standards when it comes to leadership and sterile processing.
Our big bag is to ensure that when people think about the standard of what it means to be ready to lead a department that is one of the most, one of the important pieces to saving lives in the surgical room, that no one gets promoted unless they've been certified and

trained through us. That's the bag.
But of course, listen, your bag doesn't have to be quite as

grandiose or world-changing as the examples that we used. I want for Sips to be global,

globally accepted as the standard for leadership and still process. That's a big, grandiose bag.
World changing. That's a big, grandiose bag.
And your bag doesn't have to be that big, but it should represent a significant leap beyond your current reality. Something that makes you and your team a little nervous and a lot energized, it should answer the fundamental question of to what end? The higher order reason behind all of your day-to-day efforts and initiatives.
To what end are we doing this? To what end are we doing this? Y'all, I've been in five industries. Insurance, education, consulting, private education, technology, investments, acquisitions, and now healthcare.
In all those other industries, yes, I made money. Yes, it it was good I still educate I still do those

things but I began to start asking my team to what end we made over 30 million dollars before I hit 30 to what end had the Rolls Royce and on private planes and private chefs and private driver and have and had it all.

But to what end?

What is the higher order reason behind my day-to-day efforts and initiatives? Well, what result am I looking to deliver that's going to make me wake up every day, even when we have our financial goal? This is what's important. When I was leading customer experience transformation at a previous company, our bag was to set a global standard for effortless, personalized service that turns customers into lifelong fans.
This goal guided every decision and priority from how we designed our processes and technology to how we hired and developed our people to how we measured and celebrated success. It gave us a North Star to navigate by when things got tough or uncertain.
To create your own bag, start with imagining your ideal future 10, 30 years from now. What does wild success look like for your team, your organization, your stakeholders? What legacy do you want to be known for? What impact do you want to have on the world? Dream big and don't censor yourself.
This is a time for bold, unreasonable thinking. Scripture says that without vision, the people shall perish, but it also says that the greatest among us will be a servant of all so in all things that you do how can you serve the greatest amount of people and make the greatest amount of impact with the least amount of competition that is your bucket the least amount of competition the greatest of impact and serving the most amount of people doing it that's where your hotspot is.
Then after you do that,

then try to distill And serving the most amount of people doing it. That's where your hotspot is.

Then after you do that, then try to distill that vision into a single small statement that captures its essence. Aim for something that is clear, concise and memorable.
No more than a sentence or two. Test it out with your team, your co-founders, your key stakeholders that are going to need and resonate with that product, service, or department that you have, but inspires them and helps them be prepared to iterate and refine it over time as you learn and grow.
Once you have your bag, your big, hairy, audacious goal, or long-term vision is in place, the next step is to break it down into more specific, actionable goals and expectations. This is where the rubber meets the road, translating that lofty aspiration into concrete targets, milestones, and behaviors.
I tell people a goal is just a daydream without a target. It's all a goal is.
A goal is a daydream without a target. A target means I am focused on this bullseye.
I don't have to have a goal to hit that target. I can just set milestones in place that can ensure I'm prepared enough to hit that target.

That big, hairy, audacious goal is where you're going, but it's targets and milestones and behaviors that get you to the big, hairy, audacious goal. And once the goal is set, stop moving.
It's not changing it. Stop moving.
Stop moving. It's there.
Now what targets and milestones and behaviors do I need to adapt

Assume focus on so that I can ensure that I can hit those said goals? But a big, hairy, audacious goal is just a daydream if it doesn't have targets and milestones in place. So that it is.
One popular framework for this is the OKR method, which stands for objectives and key results. Developed by Intel and popularized by Google, OKRs are a simple yet powerful way to align and focus your team around what matters most.
The basic idea is to set a small number of high level objectives for a given time period, usually a quarter, along with three to five key results for each objective that defines what success looks like. For example, let's say your big hairy audacious goal is to become the most trusted and recommended brand in your industry.
A quarterly OKR might look like this. The objective, delight our customers with exceptional service and support.
Key result number one, increase our net prompter score from 40 to 60. Key result number two, resolve 95% of customer inquiries on first contact.
And key result number three, deliver 10,000 wow moments, unexpected acts of kindness. Notice how the objectives is a qualitative statement that aligns with the bag.
While the key results are quantitative measures that define the goalposts for success, the key results should be specific, measurable, time-bound, and challenging yet achievable. Something that stretches the team to perform at their best.
Importantly, OKRs are not meant to be a comprehensive job description or to-do list. They are a way to prioritize and focus on the most impactful work that will drive your vision forward as a leader.
Your role is to ensure that everyone's OKRs are aligned and mutually supportive and that they have the resources and clarity to execute them successfully. To set effective OKRs with your team, start by reviewing your bag, your big, hairy, audacious goal in any longer term strategic priorities.
Then identify the two to three most important things that you need to accomplish in the next 90 days to make meaningful progress. These become your objectives.
For each objective, brainstorm at least a list of potential key results, the measurable outcomes that would indicate you've achieved the objective. Aim for a mix of leading and lagging indicators and be sure to include both committed results.
What you realistically expect to achieve

and aspirational results,

what you would achieve in the best case scenario.

Narrow the list down to three to five

most impactful and achievable key results

and then you're on your way.

The last thing you're gonna do,

dealing with your OKRs. You review the OKRs with your team and key stakeholders to pressure test them and ensure that they aligned, they're aligned and realistic.
Make any necessary adjustments based on the input, then commit to them as a team. Be sure to check in regularly on progress, celebrate successes along the way, and course correct if needed.
Beyond setting clear objectives and key results, another critical aspect of goal setting is to define the behaviors and expectations that will enable your team to achieve them.

This is where your leadership rubber meets the road, translating those performance targets into the day-to-day actions, mindsets, and interactions that create a culture of excellence. One tool I find helpful for this is the cultural contact.
contact The culture contact is a concept developed by Brent Gleason G-L-E-E-S-O-N He's a Navy SEAL turned leadership coach A culture contact is a simple one page document that outlines the core values behaviors and expectations That every team member agrees to uphold in service of the mission. It's a way to implicit, explicit, I'm sorry, it's to make the implicit explicit, to codify the unwritten rules and norms that shape how you work together.
For an example, a culture contact might include statements like, we put the customer first in every decision and interaction. We communicate openly, honestly, indirectly, even when it's uncomfortable.
We take ownership and initiative rather than waiting to be told what to do. We have each other's back and assume positive intent.
We embrace diversity and inclusion and treat everyone with respect and empathy. We continuously learn and improve and view failure as an opportunity for growth.
The key is to make the contract as specific and actionable as possible and to involve the whole team in creating and committing to it. This isn't something you can just dictate from high and deliver it down low.
It has to be a collaborative effort that reflects the team's shared values and aspirations. See, these culture contracts is the commitment for everyone within your organization to buy end to what it like.
So when we so when we said we put the customer first in every decision and interaction, that means that it's not only the customers first when we're making the decision internally. That means that in the interaction directly with the customer, we're also saying we will put you first.
We communicate openly and honestly and directly, even when it's uncomfortable. You do you see that? You see that addition, even when it's uncomfortable, because most people start with we communicate openly, honestly and directly.
And then you move on to the next pill pillar. Now, even when it's uncomfortable, we take ownership and initiative, comma, rather than waiting to be told what to do.
So we're giving a full vantage point or viewpoint on what's what we agree to and also are considering the moments when we possibly would not do the thing inside the culture contract. So when you do that and we build around it, it now creates attitudes, behaviors and habits that will enable them to perform their best.
So to create that your own culture contract, start by reflecting on what your big hairy audacious goals are or your OKRs which is our objective and key results and the kind of team culture you're going to need to achieve them who do you need to become I remember when I first wanted to make a million dollars and my mentor said you become a million dollars before you make a million dollars I was like, what are you talking about, sir? That don't even make sense. How do you become a million dollars before you make a million dollars? Well, it's very simple.
You can't attract what you are not. And if you do get what you are not, you will lose it because that's not who you are.
So when we have the big hairy audacious goal, the question is, am I the leader that I need to be to attain this big hairy audacious goal? Do I have the organization that I need to attain this big hairy audacious goal? Is my team in place enough for me to attain this big hairy audacious goal? Or is it like scary, scary, scary noises in Halloween when you start to think of this? This is what we have to start being honest with ourselves now. Do I have the right team to get me there? Am I the right leader to get me there? And if I were to get the type of team that I need, could I actually lead

them honestly giving myself a grade? This is when you bring your team together for a frank, open discussion about what it takes to succeed. You want to ask questions like, what does a great, what does great look like for our team? How will we know we're living up to our potential? What values and principles are most important to us? What do we stand for? What behaviors and actions would demonstrate those values in our day-to-day work? What kind of environment and interactions bring out the best in each of us? What commitments and expectations do we need from each other to thrive? As you discuss these questions, listen carefully for themes and patterns and work together to distill them into a set of clear, concise statements.
Aim for no more than five to seven core elements in your contract. Any more than that will be hard to remember and live by.
Once you have a draft contract, review it as a team. Make any necessary tweaks or additions.
Then have everyone sign it, literally or figuratively, to signify their commitment. Post it prominently in your workplace.
Refer to it often in your meetings, in your one-on-ones. Revisit it regularly to ensure it's instilled in every single person that agreed.
Importantly, a culture contract is not a one-and-done exercise. It's a living, breathing document that should evolve as your team and contacts do.
Be prepared to update it, refine it over time based on new learnings, challenges, and opportunities, but never get away from it. By taking the time to define and align on a shared set of behaviors and expectations, you create a powerful foundation for your team to excel.
You make it clear what great looks like in action, not just in theory. And you give everyone a common language and framework for holding themselves and each other accountable to your highest aspirations.
Listen, of course, of course, setting goals, OKRs and culture contracts is just the beginning.

The real work is the ongoing coaching, feedback and support you provide your team to make sure that they're living up to them.

This is where your people first leadership skills really come into play.

Your ability to to meet each person where they are, to understand their unique strengths and growth areas and to tailor your approach accordingly.

Thank you. meet each person where they are, to understand their unique strengths and growth areas, and to tailor your approach accordingly.
One framework I find helpful for this is the situational leadership model. This was developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard.
The basic idea is that your leadership style should adapt based on the competence and commitment of the person you're leading on a given task or a goal. For example, if someone is new to a role or a skill and you feel unsure, you might need to provide more clear direction and hands-on support.
The model's called S1, or directing style.

We went over this before, y'all.

But as they start to develop competence and confidence,

you shift to more of an S2, coaching style.

Y'all remember this?

It's in one of our earlier episodes,

offering guidance and feedback while also empowering them to take more ownership.

As they continue to grow and stretch,

you move to S3, a supporting style,

acting more as a sounding board

and a resource as they drive their own development.

And finally, when they reach a high level

of mastery or autonomy,

you can adopt an S4 or delegating style, trusting them to lead and make decisions with minimal oversight. The key is to continuously diagnose each team member's development and their level on their key goals and tasks and to flex your leadership approach accordingly.
This requires a deep understanding of their skills, motivations and learning style, as well as regular check ins and two way feedback to track progress and provide support. It also requires a growth mindset on your part as a leader.
you have to be willing to let go of control and allow your team to stumble, fall and learn rather than always jumping in with the answers. You have to embrace your own vulnerabilities and imperfection and model the kind of risk taking and resilience you want to see in others.
And you have to continuously invest in your own self-awareness and emotional intelligence to show up as the leader your people will need. You guys always hear me bringing up this situational leadership.
This model is gold. Paul and Ken did an amazing job by breaking up into four quarters, quadrants.
That's exactly what it takes, because at the end of the day. Setting goals and expectations is not about imposing targets or demands on your team.
It's about unleashing their full potential and creating the conditions for them to do their best work. It's about tapping into their intrinsic motivation and desire for growth and aligning it with a shared vision of success.
It's about building the kind of authentic trust-based relationship that brings out the best in everyone. As a leader, you have a profound opportunity and responsibility to shape the goals mindset and behaviors that define your team's culture and performance by by by starting with a bold, inspiring vision, breaking it down into clear and actionable targets and backing it up with consistent coaching and accountability, you can create a flywheel of success that elevates everyone that's involved.
But it starts with your own intentionality and care as a leader. It starts with getting clear on your own purpose and values and aligning your actions and interactions accordingly.
It starts with seeing goal setting not as a checkbox or a chore, but as a sacred practice of leadership service, a way to empower and enable your people to achieve extraordinary things. So as we close this episode, I would like to invite you to reflect on your own approach to setting goals and expectations.
What is the big, hairy, audacious goal or vision that inspires and guides your team? How well do your current objectives and key results align with and advance that vision? What are the core values and behaviors that define your team's culture? How consistently do you and your team members live up to and reinforce them? How well do you understand the unique strengths, motivations, and growth areas of each team member? How effectively do you tailor your leadership style and support to their individual needs? What is one specific action you can take this week to clarify, reinforce, or elevate your goals and expectations in service of your team's success? I encourage you to carve out some dedicated time and space to grapple with these questions and to engage your team in the process. Have the courage to have these courageous conversations.
Do the vulnerable work that is required and keep iterating and improving because the quality of your goals and culture will ultimately determine the quality of your results and impact. And if you ever feel stuck or overwhelmed in this work, remember that you're not alone.
Remember that leadership is not about perfection, but also about progress. And remember that your greatest power as a leader comes not from within.
It's not from what can achieve on your own from within, but what you can empower and inspire others to achieve together. So keep setting those big, bold, heartfelt goals.
Keep holding yourself and your team to the highest standards of excellence in humanity and keep believing in limitless potential of the people you have the privilege to lead. Because when you do, there's no limit to the impact you can have on your team, your organization and the world at large.
As always, thank you so much for being a part of this conversation in this community. You've changed agents in a bread to lead community are showing up and showing out.
We consistently rank top 150 business podcasts in the United States. You guys are sharing this information.
You're rating the show. You're sending it to your team.
And I want to say thank you because if I can do anything, the one thing I care most about is becoming fishers of men. I want to pour into you to become the leader that God called you to be.
But it takes for us to have some humility and to be authentically honest with ourselves. It's an honor to be on this leadership journey with you.
And I'm endlessly inspired by your dedication to growth and impact. If this episode resonated with you, I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences.
Drop me a line on my website, breadtolead.com or on social media, Jake Taylor Jacobs, Dr. Jake Taylor Jacobs.
I'm on all platforms, but I'm mostly on LinkedIn. I interact mostly on LinkedIn.
Dr. Jake Taylor Jacobs, J-A-K-E-T-A-Y-L-E-R-J-A-C-O-B-S.
If you want to dive even deeper about the art and science of goal setting, be sure you go and get this book, my newest book, People First Results Second. Go to www.bredtolead.com.
Bread is B-R-E-D, like you're breeding something. Bredtolead.com.
Go and get my newest book, People First, Result Second. This podcast was bred off of that book.
It's an extended conversation from the actionable items that I give you in that book to become a people first leader. Until next time, keep leading with love and audacity.

And remember, your goals are your dreams with a deadline.

So dream big, plan well, and never, never stop chasing becoming a change agent.

This is your host, Dr. Jake Taylor Jacobs.