A leadership expert has advised people to “ditch goals” to boost their chances of growth in 2026.
Drew Povey, founder of the Drew Povey Consultancy says that effective goal building should be “less focused on targets and more focused on themes.”
“Goals without growth are literally just numbers,” says Drew, who has worked with blue chip organisations including Rolls Royce and Lloyds Bank.
“There’s no point in just putting yourself under pressure with arbitrary targets and there’s no point in setting targets which are impossible to achieve, because they won’t motivate you to grow.
“A real growth strategy will be about building people without building pressure.
“You might achieve a lot in a year but miss out on that one target, and it will make you feel like a failure when in fact you have achieved a lot.
“You might also hit a goal and just be lucky, without really having learned anything or made sustainable improvements.
“The trick is to look at the all-round performance, not some one-off ambition.
“If you build on mindset and habits you can gain momentum which will mean that growth won’t just be about 2026 but something you can take forward for years to come.
“The real win isn’t what you achieve, it’s what you become in the process of what you’re trying to achieve.”
1 Build growth themes, not goals
Goals are milestones, but I think progress is the real measure of success.
In sport, everyone wants to win but we forget the path and the progress which comes from working towards those goals. The improvements which can be made by a player might not mean they win every match, but they have still grown as a player.
So instead of just looking to that one target, look at a whole series of areas like confidence, communication, fitness, relationships and creativity. These are all things that will deliver growth but they bring with them so many benefits even if that headline target is not met.
- Review before you set off
Most people rush straight into the idea of ‘that’s what I want to achieve.’ But the best operators will spend time reviewing 2025 before they move on to 2026.
They’ll ask questions like, what did we feel worked? Where did we grow? Where did we fall short? And for good reasons, what did we learn?
Great goals or great growth will come from great reflection and it is the review which will shape the preview.
- Create goals that stretch but don’t snap.
You should aim to challenge yourself, but not to the extent that it overwhelms you. A good rule is that if it scares you a little or excites you a lot, that’s probably a good thing and you’re going about it the right way.
If it terrifies you or seems totally unachievable then you’re facing a negative before you start.
- Track progress, not perfection
Anybody I’ve seen do anything great has tracked their progress. It’s why the phrase ‘keep on track’ is so widely used.
If you’re on diet, you’d be stepping on the scales. If you were trying to get your finances in order, you’d be checking your statements every month. Those regular check ins will beat that daily obsession which can actually push you off track.
If you’re on a diet, there’s no point weighing yourself every day. You won’t see the progress that you will from being consistent across the week and no shift in the dial could make you think ‘what’s the point?’
You need to look at your progress and ask yourself, ‘Am I moving forward?’ What’s helping me? What’s hindering me and what do I need to adjust?
- Adapt without losing ambition
Life happens, circumstances shift, and priorities will always evolve, but too many people cling to goals that no longer really fit what they’re doing. So don’t be scared to shift them.
High performers adapt their goals, but they never, ever lower their ambition.
We saw a lot of this in Covid, when some people weren’t even getting dressed. They were drinking too much and eating the wrong things. But the people who did well were keeping up to their own standards regardless of what was happening which was outside of their control.
