Goal setting season is often met with eye rolls rather than enthusiasm, as targets are pushed down from finance without context or collaboration. When goals feel imposed, teams comply but never fully commit, and that lack of belief quietly undermines performance long before the year begins.
Part 4 of this mini-series from Volker Balluede reframes target setting as a shared process, grounded in transparency, participation, and genuine ambition rather than pressure.
This session outlines a bottom-up approach that helps leaders set goals people will actually fight for. By anchoring targets in real data not just revenue, but conversion patterns, sales cycles, activity quality, and early indicators leaders build trust and show the team where the truth really lives.
Key Takeaways from Volker Ballueder:
- Ownership beats obligation – Involving the team in setting targets builds belief, alignment, and genuine commitment, far stronger than numbers handed down from above.
- Stretch with purpose, not pressure – Effective goals push people to grow, not crack. When the team understands the reasoning behind the number, motivation rises instead of resistance.
- Momentum is made visible – Breaking annual goals into weekly rhythms keeps progress front-of-mind, fuels engagement, and sustains belief across the long cycle.
About Volker Ballueder:
Volker Ballueder is a seasoned leadership coach with over two decades of commercial experience across SaaS, tech, and high-growth scale-ups. Having led teams through acquisitions, restructures, rapid expansion, and the pressure of board-level decision-making, he brings a rare blend of strategic clarity and emotional intelligence to every engagement.
He works with founders, CEOs, CROs, and senior leadership teams who are navigating growth, tension, or change. His approach is direct yet supportive, cutting through noise, surfacing the real issues, and guiding leaders towards sharper decisions, stronger culture, and sustainable performance.
His background spans executive coaching, psychotherapy, NLP, and mindfulness, giving him the tools to address both the strategic and human sides of leadership. Volker’s clients include leaders from global brands such as PepsiCo, Sky, JCDecaux, Boots, and DHL, alongside ambitious scale-ups facing real-world pressure.
