Did you make a few resolutions recently? Set a few goals? Maybe you even did what I did and created a personal strategic plan for 2016? If so, you will want to know this key to leadership success.

Tie your goals, plans, and resolutions to emotional outcomes. When we tie our plans to how we want to feel, or as leaders how we want our team members to feel, we increase our motivation to behave in alignment with our goals and objectives.  Consider revisiting the goals you’ve recently set for yourself and add an emotional outcome.

Ask yourself: 

How do I want to feel? (healthy, confident, in charge, happy – these are a few examples for personal goals.) 

How do I want my family members to feel? (loved, appreciated, understood – great outcomes for personal relationships.) 

How do I want my team members to feel? (valued, respected, empowered – these can be powerful in your leadership role.) 

A very important tweak to this question for leaders is, “How do I think my team members currently feel?” If you suspect that they don’t feel valued, respected, etc…, then you can begin to make changes to elicit more positive feelings. And, as many of you know, the #1 reason good people quit is that they don’t like how their leaders make them feel. Emotional outcomes matter. 

By adding a reminder of how we want to feel, or how we want others to feel, we can check to see if our current actions are in alignment with those feelings.  If not, we can adjust those actions and move forward towards achieving success.

Connecting your goals, resolutions, and strategic plans to emotional outcomes can increase your likelihood of keeping those resolutions. Go ahead and revisit the goals you likely just set, add emotional outcomes and have a fabulous 2016!

Pamela Jett is a communication skills and leadership expert who knows that words matter! In her keynote presentations, workshops, books and online learning programs, she moves beyond communication theory into practical strategies that can be implemented immediately to create the kind of leadership, teamwork, and employee engagement results her clients want.