Turn Big Dreams Into Goals That Get Done

I used to have a list.

It had 106 things I wanted to do before I die—my personal bucket list. I wrote it in a notebook one Sunday afternoon, believing that by putting my dreams on paper, I’d somehow move closer to making them real.

But here’s what I learned the hard way: dreams don’t move on their own.
They just sit there. Quiet. Patient. Unbothered by the passing weeks.
And when life gets busy—and it always does—your dreams quietly get replaced by meetings, emails, and responsibilities you didn’t plan for.

I had goals. But they weren’t goals yet.
They were wishes with no engine.

That’s where most leaders get stuck.

Not because they don’t dream big enough.
But because they don’t translate the dream into something people can own, move toward, and measure.

You’ve probably seen it:

• A new direction gets announced in a meeting… and no one follows up.
• A bold target is written on a whiteboard… and the energy fizzles out by the second week.
• Everyone is “aligned”… until they start moving in five different directions.

That’s not a strategy problem. That’s a goal-setting problem.
And it’s more common than most leaders admit.

Vague goals are the most expensive kind.

They don’t look dangerous—but they drain momentum slowly.

• They sound impressive, but lead nowhere.
• They get clapped for in town halls, then forgotten by Tuesday.
• They give people just enough direction to stay busy—but not enough clarity to actually win.

And when the team can’t clearly say: “Here’s where we’re going, and how we’ll know we got there”—what you get isn’t performance.

You get distraction dressed up as progress.

So what is a goal that works?

It’s not motivational.
It’s not long.
And it’s not something you announce once and assume people understand.

A real leadership goal is:

• Clear — specific, simple, no extra words
• Compelling — tied to meaning, to impact, to the bigger picture
• Shared — not just assigned, but co-owned by the team

I’ve seen this happen in high-pressure companies, government offices, nonprofits—even families. The moment the goal is shared and specific, everything gets sharper.

You don’t need a complicated framework.
Sometimes, all you need is a single phrase that changed the way I worked with teams:

“From X to Y by When.”

When Nina Made It Click

Nina led a regional customer service team. Their big mandate?

“Improve the customer experience.”

So they held meetings. Built dashboards. Launched campaigns.
But nothing really moved.

When we broke it down together, we landed here:

“Increase customer retention from 62% to 75% by October 30, using three new feedback tools.”

Clear. Visible. Measurable.
Suddenly, they weren’t just reacting to tickets—they were building a system.
Every decision, every meeting, every cross-team convo… now had a point.

The vision was the same.
The difference was the goal had traction.

Why Clarity Wins

In their book The 4 Disciplines of Execution, Chris McChesney and Sean Covey explain a simple truth:

“People don’t play hard for unclear goals.”

Their research across hundreds of organizations found that teams with clearly defined, visible, and trackable goals performed significantly better than teams working toward vague or overly complex objectives.

And in Daniel Pink’s Drive, he reminds us that clarity and autonomy fuel motivation—not micromanagement or empty cheerleading.

“Goals that are specific and challenging lead to higher performance than easy or ambiguous goals.”
(Locke & Latham, Goal-Setting Theory)

The science agrees: your job as a leader isn’t just to inspire.
It’s to clarify.
And then to help the team take ownership of that clarity.

Don’t just set goals—build them together.

That might be the most overlooked part of all.

You can have the perfect SMART goal, but if your team didn’t help build it, don’t expect them to carry it.

Start with dialogue. Ask:

• “What would success look like—for us?”
• “If we hit this, what changes for our customers? For our people?”
• “What’s realistic, but still bold?”
• “What are we willing to measure?”

The more your team helps shape the target, the more they’ll stretch for it.

Clarity beats charisma. Every time.

Big vision has its place.
But clarity is what keeps people moving when the meeting ends.

So be the leader who translates dreams into direction.
Be the one who asks when, not just what.
Be the one who builds the map—not just points to the mountain.

Because when your team can see the goal—and feel it’s theirs—you’ll no longer need to push.
They’ll start pulling.

What’s Your Take?

What’s one goal you’ve been carrying in your head—but haven’t defined with your team?

If you’ve been struggling to move from vision to execution, I’d love to hear what’s getting in the way.
And if you need help facilitating this kind of clarity in your team, let’s talk.
We might design a workshop or coaching session to bring your biggest goals into focus—and into motion.

You don’t need a hundred goals.
You just need one that moves.

Let’s make it happen.