Many people find it hard to set and reach their goals, which ultimately determine the course of their leadership skills. Fundamentally, all goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, reasonable, and time conscious, which goes with the acronym SMART goals. This means that when one is setting their goals, they should have the acronym format in mind. You will only know that you have achieved a particular goal, if you have an unambiguous way to measure it. Consider setting goals that are neither too easy to achieve, nor those that are unattainable. In addition, to avoid procrastination give them a timeline in which to achieve. This technique works for both personal and management skills.

Do a rational self assessment

Before one begins setting their goals, they must understand where they desire to go or what they want to achieve. Archetypal leadership skills demand self-responsibility, decisiveness, time management, charisma, clarity of vision, the capacity to delegate, as well as a sense of duty. You will also need to grow good team building skills, be a good time manager, have integrity, good mentoring and organizational skills as well as have motivational and communication skills. You can list the skills and then rank them in order or significance, and then rate yourself against each on a scale of one to five.

Set your priorities right

Consider setting your leadership goals based on your personal preferences, by first reviewing the self-assessment. You could have ranked yourself too high on one area, and determine which are your strengths and weaknesses. Improve on the weaknesses while you enhance the strengths.

Establish a means to achieve the goals

On identifying an area that requires improvement, examine the different means in which you can accomplish this. If for example you need to improve your communication skills, join a speakers group available in your area, like the Toastmasters, or take an online business communication course, offer free talks, and read extensively on the subject. Review the constraints and see the ones that fit within your budget and time, objectives and purposes. For example, if you need to improve your speech, reading a book will not help much, you need to do actual speaking.

Monitor yourself

After choosing a means to achieve your goals, continue to monitor your own progress. For example, if you choose to take a course in business communications, your progress at various stages will determine you grades. Conversely, if you join a speaking group, give yourself a period to do a number of speeches and evaluate this after the time expires. Do not wait until a scheduled time to do the evaluations, do it along the way, this is all about organizational and time management. And lastly, review and adjust your skills at least once or twice each year, reflecting on the goals and deciding which ones require more work, and which ones you have accomplished satisfactorily. Be in a position to shift goal posts as well, this is a sure sign of growth in leadership skills including personal growth and development