7 days ago
20 Ways Leaders Can Get Their Team To Focus On Long-Term Results
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Achieving quick wins and meeting short-term business goals is often seen as a positive sign of progress. However, too much focus on instant gratification and results and not enough prioritization of the larger vision and values can quickly derail a business's mission.
Choosing to slow decision-making processes and make deliberate moves can seem radical in a competitive business market, but this investment over time can result in significant changes with lasting effects. Below, 20 Forbes Business Council members discuss how they keep themselves and their team more focused on long-term results. Read on to learn more about the benefits of taking a sustained business perspective.
1. Prioritize The Brand Promise
Always keep your brand promise front and center. What's "in" matters in fashion, but you can't build a brand by chasing trends. Customers need to trust that what you make reflects what you stand for and consistently deliver. Even quick calls to move the business forward should still reflect the values and long-term vision behind the brand. - Suzanne Lerner, Michael Stars
2. Concentrate On Doing The Next Right Thing
To avoid getting caught up in short-term wins, I remind myself and my team to always focus on doing the next right thing. This means actions that align with our values and long-term goals. By focusing on the bigger picture, we anticipate challenges, invest in innovation, build trust with our stakeholders and nurture a workplace culture where everyone feels connected to the larger mission. - Bill Flederbach, ClimeCo
3. Set Quarterly Goals
We set quarterly goals tied to a bigger vision. It keeps us focused on meaningful progress, not just quick wins. Thinking long term builds stability and stronger relationships while enabling smarter decisions. Chasing only short-term results can burn out your team and blur your purpose. Vision keeps everyone aligned and motivated. - Saheer Nelliparamban, Paywint
4. Connect KPIs To Annual Strategic Goals
Ensuring you are always connecting KPIs to the annual strategic goals is critical to keeping the team's eye on the prize while they keep their energy on the day-to-day activities. Actionable awareness is a method we embed in our culture. It involves knowing what the most important actions are and how to make them happen while connecting to the "why," vision, mission and values. - Susan Leger Ferraro, Peace, Love, Happiness Real Estate
5. Make Large Objectives A Daily Action
We avoid focusing too much on instant gratification or immediate results by consciously integrating long-term objectives into our daily decisions and team conversations. Regularly revisiting our broader vision helps us stay aligned with meaningful goals, nurturing deeper client relationships and sustainable growth that far outlasts short-term rewards or temporary successes. - Dr. Ritu Goel, MindClaire
6. Align Focus Across Organizational Levels
Effective leaders don't choose between short- and long-term focus. Instead, they strategically align focus across organizational levels. C-suite executives should own the five- to 10-year vision while middle managers execute plans over up to six months. When senior leaders get trapped in daily operations, it signals a breakdown in planning processes and lost trust in middle management's execution capabilities. - Tom Strohl, Oliver Wight Americas
7. Offer Incentives To Motivate Employees
In our team, the doors are open to all employees to move up within the company, which some have already done. This incentive, as well as having these employees as role models, spurs many employees on to be motivated at work in the long term and to think outside the box from time to time. - Stephy Beck,
8. Consider Transitioning To An Employee-Owned Model
Early on, I made the decision to transition to an employee-owned model. This choice has been instrumental in keeping our team focused on long-term goals rather than just short-term gains. While immediate wins are important, it's our collective commitment to the bigger picture and shared accountability across the organization that has fueled stability, sustainable growth and innovation. - Dan Galorath, Galorath Incorporated
9. Focus On Solving Problems
I emphasize problem-solving over quick feature releases. When you're committed to solving customer pain points rather than chasing immediate results, you naturally think strategically. We regularly zoom out to assess our progress against core problems we're solving. Doing this avoids reactive decision making and ensures we're building sustainable solutions that create lasting value. - Sharat Potharaju, Uniqode
10. Hold Team Strategy Sessions
We intentionally have regular strategy sessions as a team to align on longer-term outcomes. By focusing on the long term, we can prevent short-term impulsivity and design an operational strategy that is built for sustainability. At LambdaTest, we know that the decisions we make today will shape the future and ultimately the growth and success of the company in the future. - Maneesh Sharma, LambdaTest
11. Take A Six-Month Outlook To Everything
We're a startup, so we move fast. However, we still ask, 'Will this break in six months?' This kind of long-term thinking matters because cleaning up rushed decisions always costs more than doing it right the first time. - Rytis Lauris, Omnisend
12. Build For Scalability
We avoid short-term bias by building for scalability, starting with how we structured Grape Law. From the outset, we invested in in-house tech development, cross-functional hiring and proprietary tools like Grape Assistant. Thinking long term enables us to create systems that evolve with client needs, support global growth and stay resilient in an unpredictable legal and policy environment. - Muhammed Uzum, Grape Law Firm PLLC
13. Invest In Innovation and A Lasting Strategy
Recognize that today's solutions will eventually become obsolete. Customer needs evolve, and what works now can quickly be replaced by newer, more advanced options. To stay competitive, the product team must invest in innovation and long-term strategy. This will ensure the company maintains its leadership position. If not, the company will lose market share unless it's protected by unique advantages. - Dmitry Malin, Novakid
14. Avoid Thinking Success Is Instant
I started my company with a long-term vision, knowing that most cases are retained on contingency and results take time. Staying focused and believing in the mission helps us avoid the trap of short-term thinking. Long-term success comes from being consistent, building trust and always putting clients first, even when results aren't immediate. - JC Serrano,
15. Do Regular Retrospectives And Check-Ins
Internally, we reinforce a long-term mindset through regular case retrospectives and strategic check-ins. Thinking long term means being proactive, not reactive. It is easier said than done but we work hard to make it a regular practice. It builds trust, reduces risk and ensures that our work not only delivers results now but also continues to serve the client's goals as they grow and scale. - Sophie Alcorn, Alcorn Immigration Law
16. Align Initiatives Around Enduring Growth For Customers
At Alkami, we balance urgency with vision by aligning every initiative to long-term growth for our customers. Short-term wins matter, but sustainable growth comes from building integrated technology that serves the end users rather than just features. Thinking long term ensures we're not simply reacting to change but leading it. - Stephen Bohanon, Alkami
17. Balance Metrics With Progress
We stay focused on the long game by balancing short-term metrics with long-term progress. We track KPIs daily, weekly and monthly while keeping an eye on quarterly and annual goals. Weekly one-on-one meetings help team members align projects with our vision using an impact, behavior and proof framework. This creates clarity and accountability while tying daily work to long-term success. - Jason Bahnak, Abstrakt
18. View Minor Wins As Signals
Turning urgency into momentum keeps us grounded. We treat short-term wins as signals, not outcomes. Our focus is on building the long-term infrastructure for how real estate decisions are made. That shift in mindset keeps the team aligned with impact that compounds and where trust, insight and relevance grow far beyond the next quarter. - Arunabh Dastidar, Leni
19. Continuously Revisit The Goals And Purpose
We revisit the organization's vision regularly to ensure short-term goals align with long-term purpose and that the vision still fits. It's easy to chase quick wins, but alignment ensures lasting impact and prevents drift. - Jon Osterburg, Jitasa
20. Focus On Building Toward Something Meaningful
Short-term wins are tempting, but if you're not building toward something bigger and more meaningful, you're just busy. I learned this after the acquisition of a portfolio company that smashed its goals every month for two years straight but our best people still left. The company achieved without purpose. As a team, we now stop to ask what we are becoming, not just what we are hitting. - Shayne Fitz-Coy, Sabot Family Companies
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