On May25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy addressed a joint session of Congress to request funding for space projects. In that speech, Kennedy said “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” That was truly an audacious goal. By mid-1961 the U.S. had not yet even placed a human in orbit and the Soviet Union had accomplished that feat only a little more than one month earlier. There are some valuable lessons in goal setting to be learned from Kennedy’s goal and how he presented it.
First, Kennedy was very clear about the reason for sending a man to the moon. He actually had no great interest in space exploration. His real goal was to beat the Soviets and demonstrate the nation’s superiority. In this age of space stations and regular satellite launches it might be a little difficult to understand his motives but 1961 was a very different time. The U.S. had been shocked when the Soviets orbited the first man-made satellite, Sputnik, in 1957 and had found themselves lagging behind in what became known as the “space race.” The nation was losing the race and wasn’t happy about it.
Second, Kennedy was very forthright about the cost of meeting the goal. He estimated the cost of his entire space program to be between $7.5 and $9 billion. That’s between about $63 and $75 billion in 2019 dollars.
Third, Kennedy knew the goal was audacious but he had complete confidence in the ability for American scientists and engineers to accomplish the goal. His goal had a very tight timeline, only 8 ½ years to go from almost no capability to man on the moon. He knew it was a challenge, but expressed his confidence in the nation’s abilities. His positive attitude made the goal seem achievable and rallied the nation to doing just that.
More than once I’ve heard leaders say they like to set goals that they know are unreachable. They believe that by setting unreachable goals, they will still move much further ahead than they would with more reasonable goals. That’s a dangerous philosophy. Some might have thought that Kennedy’s goal was unreachable, but he believed in it and sold the idea to others as something that could be done. How successful would he have been if he hadn’t had that personal belief and commitment?
There’s nothing wrong with setting difficult goals, or ones that will require a considerable stretch on the part of the organization. In fact, if a goal isn’t challenging then why is it the goal? But when the goal is clearly unreachable, there is likely to be less forward movement, not more.
Don’t be shy about setting difficult goals. Just make sure they are achievable and that you rally your team to believe it’s achievable.
What is your audacious goal?
Bob Mason is dedicated to leadership development. He works with companies to solve problems by helping supervisors and managers become more effective leaders leading more productive teams. He is a professional speaker and author of Don’t Worry, You Can Do This: What New Supervisors and Managers Need to Know About Leadership; The Art of Not Motivating: How Leaders Can Succeed by Understanding the True Nature of Motivation; Balancing the Generations: A Leader’s Guide to the Complex, Multi-Generational, 21st Century Workplace; and Planning to Excel: Strategic Planning That Works.
A 30-year career in the U.S. Air Force exposed him to great leaders and leadership opportunities such as command of four squadrons, including the Air Force’s largest munitions squadron. He has studied leadership extensively, but more importantly has been there, working with real people, making hard decisions, and experiencing the results.
Contact Bob at Bob@BobMasonSpeaker.com or 505-453-5266
