Key Results and Visionary Goals

Is there a difference between Key Results and Visionary Goals?  Yes, but they’re both part of the same family. Key Results are what must be achieved to steadily sustain and grow a business or organization. Visionary Goals are what must be pursued to continually renew and transform a business or organization. Visionary Goals are “crucial aspirations.” Key Results are “must deliverables.” Both are needed to create healthy and sustainable Cultures of Accountability^®. We frequently tell clients that accountability begins with well-defined Key Results, but we also remind them that accountability deepens and expands with dynamic and inspirational Visionary Goals. Our definition of accountability captures both.

Accountability: “A personal choice to rise above one’s circumstances and demonstrate the ownership necessary for achieving desired results—to See It, Own It, Solve It , Do It^®.”

Inherent in this definition of accountability is a mind-set or attitude for continually asking, “What else can I do to rise above my circumstances and achieve the results I desire?” It involves a sequential process of seeing it, owning it, solving it, and doing it, and requires a level of ownership that includes making, keeping, and answering for personal commitments. Such a perspective not only embraces a focus on Key Results that will sustain people and organizations but also an emphasis on Visionary Goals that can continually transform them. Consistently applying the Steps To Accountability^®—See It, Own It, Solve It , Do It^®—allows you to achieve both Key Results and Visionary Goals, which, in turn, revitalizes business character, strengthens global competitiveness, heightens innovation, improves quality, increases customer satisfaction, and drives sustainability.

Accountability for results rests at the very core of every organizational issue, initiative, goal, or vision. And it always boils down to getting people to rise above their circumstances to do whatever it takes (of course, within the bounds of ethical behavior) to get the results they want. Creating this sort of individual and collective accountability is one of the top managerial and leadership challenges facing organizations today. To learn more about how to meet this challenge by creating greater accountability in your organization, go to www.partnersinleadership.com.