Of course, this gives us a window into their value system and shows us whether they are all about themselves or about actually helping others.
Here’s what’s not obvious.
The human brain wants to remain consistent against its stated beliefs.
When people declare goals publicly, they are holding themselves accountable to what they’ve said.
So long as we do our part to provide training, opportunity, and mentoring, there is no way they can’t succeed unless they truly don’t believe in their goals or are not ethical.
Goal-setting has a non-obvious benefit of long-term retention since people will demonstrate integrity to themselves.
Their roles and goals will evolve over time.
As long as we make sure the company is chasing their stated hopes and dreams, then that team member will not see this as just some job, but the vehicle to helping them achieve their dreams.
This is the paradox of self-interest versus altruism- why some high achievers will opt to join a team, even though in the short-run, there could be a better job offer or opportunity.
Having short, medium and long-term goals help them avoid short-sighted mistakes like taking another job offer that pays more but doesn’t move them closer to their big long-term goal.