Why your 2026 targets might not motivate anyone.
As you return to the office this year and reconnect with your team, you might be thinking about goals for 2026.
But before you share the targets, ask yourself this:
Do your team members actually understand what the numbers mean, or what they mean to them?
I've seen it countless times. Leaders assume their teams know how their daily work connects to the financial outcomes.
They don't.
And when people don't understand the numbers, they can't be motivated by them.
Here's what usually happens:
A target gets announced. It's ambitious. Everyone nods. Then... nothing changes.
Not because people don't care, but because they can't see the path between what they do every day and that big number on the slide.
The warehouse team doesn't see how their pick accuracy affects cash flow. The production team doesn't connect their changeover time to margin. The hotel front desk team doesn’t see how their exceptional customer service affects sales.
The numbers exist in a different world - one that belongs to finance, to management, to "someone else."
This year, try something different.
Instead of just presenting the target, show the progress pathway. Break the big number into smaller milestones so that your teams can make the connection between their work and the result.
Show them:
What changes if they get better by 1%
How their specific actions have moved the needle
What success looks like at each stage, not just at the finish line
Because motivation doesn't come from the size of the goal. It comes from seeing how you're going to get there - and recognising that you're already on the way.
When people understand the mathematics of motivation, the numbers stop being abstract targets and start becoming something they want to move.
Want to explore this further?
I've put together a short guide on why people love progress and how you can use this principle to make your metrics more motivating.
It's a quick read, and it might change how you measure performance against those 2026 targets.
I'd love to hear from you:
What's one metric you could break down differently for your team this year? Hit reply and let me know - I read every response.
Here's to a year where your numbers do more than measure. They motivate.