Year-in and year-out, companies release their strategic goals, prompting general counsel and chief legal officers to do the same for their departments. Law department goals typically align with company goals (e.g., "execute on our biggest opportunities"; "enhance the ability of the law department to facilitate profitable growth") and then include more legally focused objectives (e.g., "defend and protect the interests of the company" or "develop next generation of legal talent into customer-centric business partners"). These department goals are then handed off to associate GCs, deputy GCs and practice group managers as guideposts to develop associated goals for their teams, along with specific actions that can be tracked on a dashboard. To the extent they can, these department leads take their cues from the top and delegate this to their staff, citing executing on goals as a "growth and development opportunity."