From Boss to SMARTER: The Goal-Setting Upgrade That Works
The Problem with Vague Goals
There’s a reason vague goals vanish. They’re slippery. Hard to hold. Easy to walk away from. That’s how you end up with a team of good people heading in different directions - each person thinking they’re doing the right thing. Same goal, different meanings.
As Jim Stuart, a former Gallup leader and co-author of First, Break All the Rules, once said:
“Without clear visible measures, the same goal will mean one hundred different things to one hundred different people.”
And he’s right. When goals aren’t clear, people guess. Guessing leads to drift, confusion, and work that doesn’t land where it should. That’s not a people problem. That’s a clarity problem.
Why SMARTER?
One of the simplest ways to bring clarity to any goal is to run it through a checklist. SMART goals have been doing that for over 40 years. First introduced in the early 1980s, SMART helped give shape to ideas and made it easier to plan and measure progress.
But SMARTER is the upgrade. It takes the original five - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound - and adds two things that make a real difference: Emotion and Reward. These remind us that goals don’t just need structure. They need to matter.
As shown in this video, SMARTER is a more people-focused way to lead goals. It turns loose ideas into something clear, useful, and worth finishing.
The SMARTER Goal Checklist
A goal that ticks all seven boxes is easier to understand, easier to commit to, and more likely to get done.
SPECIFIC Pin down a clear tangible idea of what you want to achieve or pinpoint an area for improvement. Is it clear what exactly you want to accomplish?
MEASURABLE All goals need a yardstick otherwise we will never know if they are successful. Will you know when you meet your goal?
AMBITIOUS A worthwhile goal challenges you to think big and reach outside your comfort zone. Will this goal realistically stretch you and still able to meet this goal with effort by your timeline?
RELEVANT Will this goal really be good for business, does it fit with your values or wider plans? What meaning does it have for you? Is this goal worth working hard to accomplish?
TIME-BOUND Goals remain dreams unless you set timeframes and there is nothing like a deadline to motivate actions. Is there a clear deadline set of when you need to meet this goal?
EMOTIONAL We feel before we think. It is a scientific fact. Even in hard business terms goals that come from the gut will likely have more sticking power because you want them more. Do you and others feel good about this goal?
REWARD Because what is a goal if not rewarding. Keeping your incentive or the benefits of your goal insight will drive you on visualising the peak of the mountain and your satisfaction on reaching it. Will you feel satisfied when you reach this goal?
Make It Stick
Keeping your focus sharp like this doesn’t box you in. It gives you freedom. A clear goal helps people take ownership. It lifts effort and helps teams work with energy and care. People know what the goal is, why it matters, and what they’ll get when they reach it.
Two Ways to Strengthen Your Goal
If this feels like a lot to shape on your own—don’t. Here are two ways to make it easier:
Talk it through with someone
Use the SMARTER checklist together. A second voice helps test the thinking, find the gaps, and sharpen the why.
Use AI to shape your goal
Drop your draft into a tool like ChatGPT and ask it to rewrite the goal using SMARTER. You’ll quickly see what’s missing—and what needs more work.
A strong goal is a start. You’ll go further when you make it SMARTER.