Graded Homework

This exercise builds on the findings of the Personal Goals and Values Inventory from Chapter 1. It will enable you to learn more about your goals, using both your left (logical) and right (creative) brain modes of thinking.

1. Write a personal mission statement this is no longer than one page (a single 5-6 sentence paragraph is even better).
2. Record your goals in order of importance to you. You will likely want to use the information from the Personal Goals and Values Inventory assignment as a starting point for this assignment. This assessment of your goal importance is a worksheet to prepare you for step 3 below and does not need to be submitted with the completed assignment.
3. Explore in detail your 5 most important goals in descending order of importance. At least 2 goals should be long term (attained in 3 to 5 years) and 2 should be short term (within approximately 1 to 2 years). Each of these 5 goals should be presented over 2 pages (for a total of 10 pages for all 5 goals):
   1. One the first page, write a 1-2 sentence goal statement. The goal statement must be presented in the S.M.A.R.T. format, i.e. it must be Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time-related. For example “I plan to graduate from universitywith my B.S. in Marketing by the end of the Spring 2017 semester” contains all of the S.M.A.R.T. elements as does the statement “I plan to begin cycling for 1 hour every Saturday morning starting on September 1.” The statement “I plan on winning the Florida lottery by the end of this year” is not realistic.
   2. Continuing on the first page, provide a brief elaboration of the goal statement (3-5 sentences) beyond the goal statement itself.
   3. One the second page, present some form of pictorial representation of the goal (e.g., clip art, photographs, drawings, etc.).
4. On the final page of the assignment discuss in 5-6 sentences at least 3 things you learned from this exercise.

Grading Criteria

1. A clearly presented mission statement that meets the length requirements.
2. A complete presentation of all 5 goals, which effectively meets all the required elements listed in #3 above.
3. Presentation of the pictorial representation that lets the reader easily understand the goal without having to read the text to the goal. The criterion is not one’s artistic ability, but rather the ability to effectively communicate the goal visually.
4. An insightful lessons learned section at the end of the paper that meets the minimum length requirements and is not trite or trivial.
5. Clear and direct writing, free from grammar and spelling mistakes.

S.M.A.R.T. Goals and Objectives*

“Goals represent unique executive beliefs and philosophies. They are usually of a form that is continuous and long term. For example, (1) conduct all corporate activities with honesty, integrity, and fairness.”

“Objectives…give quantitative support and expression to management’s beliefs.” (Ibid.)

Well-written objectives statements (as are goals for the purposes of the Goals Notebook assignment) are expressed using the S.M.A.R.T. format. S.M.A.R.T. means:

S = SPECIFIC: target a specific area for improvement

M = MEASURABLE: quantify, or at least suggest a measure of progress

A = ASSIGNABLE: specify who will do it

R = REALISTIC: state what results can be achieved, given available resources

T = TIME-RELATED: specify when the result(s) can be achieved

Below are some examples of statements that contain all the required S.M.A.R.T. elements:

• Our investment in this project will result in an increase in the firm’s net profit margin from 12% in the current fiscal year to 14% by December 31, 2015.

• I will complete my B.S. in Business Administration from University by May 1, 2015.

• I plan to spend two more hours per week on average studying this semester versus last semester.

As you read the three sample sentences above, you will see that each sentence contains information that isSpecific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time-related, thus meeting all the S.M.A.R.T. format criteria.

The Goals Notebook Assignment Outlined

Paper Element	Paper Page Number
5-6 sentence personal mission statement	1
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Most important goal presented in 1-2 sentence S.M.A.R.T format 3-5 sentence elaboration on the most important goal	2
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Pictorial representation of the most important goal	3
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Second most important goal presented in 1-2 sentence S.M.A.R.T format 3-5 sentence elaboration on the second most important goal	4
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Pictorial representation of the second most important goal	5
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Third most important goal presented in 1-2 sentence S.M.A.R.T format 3-5 sentence elaboration on the third most important goal	6
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Pictorial representation of the third most important goal	7
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Fourth most important goal presented in 1-2 sentence S.M.A.R.T format 3-5 sentence elaboration on the fourth most important goal	8
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Pictorial representation of fourth most important goal	9
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Fifth most important goal presented in 1-2 sentence S.M.A.R.T format 3-5 sentence elaboration on the fifth most important goal	10
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Pictorial representation of fifth most important goal	11
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5-6 sentence discussion of 3 things you learned from this exercise	12