Go for the goal(s): Relationship between goal setting and transfer of training following leadership development

Stefanie Johnson, Lauren Garrison, Gina Hernez-Broome, John Fleenor and Judith Steed
Learning & Education, Vol. 11, No. 4

This paper examines the relationship between goal setting and transfer of training as measured on a 360-degree survey collected 3 months after a five-day leadership development program. Leaders set personal goals for behavior change during the program. For two of the three competencies measured (developing others, building and maintaining relationships), leaders who set a goal for change on a competency were perceived as having improved more on that competency than those who did not. Moreover, those who set more than one goal were perceived as having improved more across competencies than those who set only one goal.