You have to set your 'BHAG' high

Shortly after David Dyer took over as CEO of Chico's FAS in early 2009, the company had just posted an annual loss of $40 million and morale at the Fort Myers-based women's retailer fell to new lows.

So Dyer announced what he calls the “BHAG.” That's his acronym for Big Hairy Audacious Goal, a wildly optimistic target that will get employees fired up. In 2009, Dyer's BHAG was $1 earnings per share annually at Chico's.

Now that Chico's is getting close to that figure (64 cents per share most recent year), Dyer has announced a new and loftier BHAG: $1.50 earnings per share by 2013.