Why Giving Your Team Targets Might Be Holding Them Back—Here’s What I Learned When I Stopped

When I first joined Intervue 4 months ago, I was tasked with leading a talented team that I knew could achieve great things. Like many leaders, I initially thought that setting clear targets would be the best way to ensure success. But after just a week, I realized something surprising.

I didn’t set any specific targets for the team. No KPIs, no monthly quotas, no strict metrics they had to hit. Instead, I focused on giving them one clear, overarching goal: ownership and alignment towards a shared vision.

The results? Well, they’ve been nothing short of amazing.

Without the weight of arbitrary targets, my team felt more empowered to take initiative. They no longer felt confined by narrow, time-bound goals but instead were motivated by the bigger picture—creating real value, experimenting with new ideas, and owning their outcomes. The sense of responsibility and autonomy they gained from this approach was incredible.

In the past few months, not only have we hit our targets 100%, but we’ve also become a more mature and self-sufficient team. People are stepping up, taking risks, and collaborating in ways that I hadn’t seen before.

What I’ve learned through this experience is that teams often perform better when they're trusted to find their own path toward a common goal, rather than being micromanaged with endless targets. Instead of giving your team specific targets, give them a shared purpose. Trust them with the freedom to take ownership, and watch them deliver beyond expectations.

A big thank you to Rahul Arora and Sayantan Mukherjee for trusting me with the freedom to lead this way, and to my amazing team for their hard work, passion, and dedication.

Shivani Choudhary Simran Gulecha Shubham Sharma Sugandha Srivastava Naved Khan

As a small celebration of this journey, I’m sharing a video of me ringing the bell—this one’s for all of you! It’s a symbol of our shared success and the amazing things we’ve achieved together.

#Teamwork #Empowerment #GrowthMindset #WorkCulture #Digitalmarketing #People