The Goal Problem Most CEOs Never See
NOTES FROM NORTHWOOD
I gave a sales team a simple assignment last week: have your managers do goal setting sessions with their people. Help them get clear on what they want to achieve personally and professionally.
One of the managers came back to me and said something that should terrify every CEO: “Adam, most of our people don’t have any goals at all.”
These are professional salespeople. They work on commission only. Their income is directly tied to their performance. And they have no personal goals.
Let me tell you why this matters more than you think.
The Hidden Problem Behind “Good Enough” Performance
When salespeople don’t have personal goals, they default to doing just enough to maintain their current lifestyle. They hit their minimum numbers and coast. They don’t push for bigger deals because they don’t have a compelling reason to earn more.
I see this pattern everywhere I go. Salespeople who treat their commission role like they’re salary employees collecting a paycheck. They’re satisfied with mediocre results because they’ve never defined what “great” would look like for them personally.
Here’s what this looks like in practice:
I’m working with a woman in the benefits industry right now. When I started with her, she was knowledgeable, helpful, and well-liked by customers. But her close rate was terrible.
Why? Because she was so focused on being liked that she never challenged anyone. She never asked hard questions. She never pushed back on objections. She just presented her solutions and hoped people would buy.
We had to completely change how she thought about selling. Instead of presenting, she learned to have business conversations. Instead of hoping, she learned to qualify. Instead of avoiding conflict, she learned to address problems directly.
The transformation was remarkable. She now doesn’t even present anymore. She just has business conversations with CFOs and CEOs, and she continues to grow her sales by 20% year over year.
But here’s the key: we had to help her understand what she was working toward personally before she was willing to have those difficult conversations professionally.
What No Goals Really Means
When I dig deeper with salespeople who “don’t have goals,” here’s what I usually find:
They’ve unconsciously decided their current situation is good enough. They make decent money, they have good relationships with customers, and they don’t want to rock the boat.
The problem is that “good enough” thinking creates “good enough” results. And in a competitive market, good enough gets you left behind.
Think about it from a management perspective. If your people don’t have personal goals that require them to grow professionally, why would they ever push themselves to do the hard things that drive real growth?
Why would they prospect for new business when existing customers give them enough to live on?
Why would they ask for bigger deals when smaller ones pay the bills?
Why would they risk existing relationships to pursue larger opportunities?
They wouldn’t. And they don’t.
The Connection Between Personal Goals and Professional Performance
Here’s what I’ve learned after 17 years in this business: personal motivation drives professional performance, not the other way around.
Most sales managers spend all their time talking about company goals and targets. They never ask their people what they want personally. That’s backwards.
When people have clear personal goals, everything changes. They start seeing bigger opportunities. They start taking calculated risks. They start doing the uncomfortable things that drive real growth.
I recently had another manager tell me something that almost never happens in sales organizations. He said, “Adam, one of my reps held me aside and asked me to role play certain scenarios with him. He wants to get better.”
That almost never happens. When it does, you know that person has a reason to improve. They’re working toward something that matters to them personally.
The Assessment That Reveals Everything
Want to know if your sales team has a goal problem? Here’s what I do with every client:
I have their sales managers sit down with each person individually and ask: “What are your personal goals for the next two years? What do you want to achieve outside of work? What would you do if you needed to double your income?”
The answers (or lack of answers) tell you everything you need to know about someone’s drive.
People with clear goals get excited when you ask these questions. They start talking about specific things they want to accomplish, experiences they want to have, problems they want to solve.
People without goals give you generic answers like “I want to be successful” or “I want to make more money.” They haven’t done the thinking to connect their work to their life.
The Real Impact of Goal-Less Salespeople
This isn’t just about individual performance. Goal-less salespeople hurt your entire organization in specific ways:
They set the culture standard. When your average performers are satisfied with mediocre results, your top performers start wondering why they’re working so hard.
They waste territory potential. I see salespeople all the time who have good relationships in their accounts but aren’t growing them. They’re getting a “fair share” instead of fighting for the largest share.
They can’t adapt when markets change. When competition increases or economic conditions shift, people without personal drive just accept lower results and blame external factors.
What to Do About It
If you recognize this problem in your organization, here’s what you need to do:
Start with goal setting conversations. Have your managers sit down with each person and help them get clear on what they want personally. Not company goals. Personal goals.
Connect the dots. Help people see how achieving their personal goals requires them to grow professionally. Make the connection explicit.
Create consequences. People without goals only change when staying the same becomes more painful than changing.
Hire differently. Start screening for personal drive, not just competence. Ask candidates about their goals, what motivates them, what they’re working toward.
Most importantly, stop accepting “I just want to do well” as an answer when you ask people about their goals. That’s not a goal. That’s an excuse for not having one.
Wrapping Up
I’ve worked with hundreds of companies over the years, and here’s what I’ve consistently found: the companies that grow have salespeople with personal reasons to grow.
The companies that plateau have salespeople who are satisfied with where they are.
It’s not about talent. It’s not about market conditions. It’s about whether your people have compelling personal reasons to do the hard work required for growth.
If your salespeople don’t have goals that require them to earn more, sell bigger deals, and take on new challenges, they won’t. And your company will plateau right along with them.
The goal problem is bigger than most CEOs realize. But it’s also more solvable than most people think.
Start having the conversations. You might be surprised by what you discover.
What’s your approach to sales development? Are you building systems or hoping for magic bullets? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Reply to this email or drop me a note on LinkedIn.
Want to discuss how to build a development system that actually sticks?
Let’s talk.
Until next time.
Questions our sales training programs? Email me at adam@thenorthwoodgrp.com
