Tag Archives: goals

Leapsolutions | February 2, 2023

By Jonna Dye

 

 

 

“A coach is someone that sees beyond your limits and guides you to greatness” – Michael Jordan

 

 

This is a core question for any coaching relationship: Who “owns” accountability in the coach/coachee relationship? Perhaps you have watched the Michael Jordan documentary from 2020, “The Last Dance” and the answer is very clear to you. “The Last Dance” chronicles the rise of superstar Michael Jordan and the 1990’s Chicago Bulls. There are two clear messages: everyone needs a coach, even a world-class superstar like Michael Jordan, and the coachee owns accountability in the coaching relationship.

 

 

When we observe the coaching experience, we can see and understand that the coach sets the stage and provides guidance and perspective, and it is up to the coachee to be accountable to their plan to achieve their goals.

Why is the coachee accountable? When the coachee sets their own accountability structures, they are committing to follow through and successfully complete their plan. The coach on the other hand plays a supporting role through facilitation to provide a structure to focus, recognize, and challenge the coachee. When watching Michael Jordan in “The Last Dance”, this relationship of leading and supporting roles is well illustrated.

 

 

How does the coachee best explore their role and goal achievement? Below are questions to support the coachee to focus, recognize, and challenge in the creation of a path for engagement and accountability.

  • Focus:
    • What goals do you want to achieve? How will you know when you’ve achieved them?
    • What might get or be getting in the way? How have you tried to overcome these obstacles before?
    • What strengths do you leverage? What other resources can you leverage?
  • Recognize:
    • What did you successfully accomplish in the last few weeks? Why were you successful?
    • What stimulates you to do your best work?
  • Challenge:
    • What can you start doing or do differently right now?
    • What are you willing to shift or change?
    • What conversations do you need to have?
    • What resources do you need?
    • To get what you want, what are your commitments?
    • As your coach, what do you need from me?
    • How do you want to be held accountable for your goals?
    • How do you want me to approach you if you don’t follow through with the commitments you make? What would be a good conversation starter for us?

 

 

During each coaching session, the coach can follow up on the accountability agreements. Together, a celebration and acknowledgment of what worked, and examining what did not work is an important part of the process. Check-ins ensure the goals originally set, are still in alignment as coaching progresses. A set of alignment questions can power the conversation to determine if the goals are still relevant; if they are in alignment with the organization/sponsor’s goals; and if there is commitment to the stated goals. If the coachee hasn’t done what they say they will, the coach’s role is to be curious and ask: What do you need to do to move forward? If you could start over, what would be different? What would the new plan look like?

Coaches should also ask themselves throughout the process: Am I meeting the coachee’s/sponsor’s needs? Am I holding up my end of the bargain? What’s working and what needs to shift? The coach needs to acknowledge if they made a mistake, and then own it, adjust, and move forward!

 

 

Although the role of a manager and the role of a coach differ, the above coaching information can still be leveraged simply by:

  • Communicating expectations in advance of the assignment
  • Connecting at regular intervals to discuss progress and provide feedback
  • Giving praise, support, or feedback once the work is complete

Finally, when you consider that the successful coaching model is founded in accountability, the outcomes create a high level of satisfaction from the coachee as it is their commitment, their achievement, and their results supported by their coach that helps them realize that self-investment has an extremely high rate of return. The input drives the outcome and accountability ensures focus and achieving what might have once only been a dream.

 

 

“I set another goal, a reasonable, manageable goal that I could realistically achieve if I worked hard enough. I approached everything step by step.” – Michael Jordan

 

 

Are You Ready to Leap?

***

 

Leap Solutions is a diverse group of highly skilled management, organizational development, and human resources, and executive search and recruitment professionals who have spent decades doing what we feel passionate about helping you feel passionate about what you do. Our HR specialists can help you get a handle on the ever-changing COVID-19 guidelines, programs, and legislation that may impact you and your employees. We are available to work with you to develop practical solutions and smart planning decisions for your organization’s immediate, near, and long-term needs.

To print this article, Click Here

Susana Morales | August 12, 2021

In our workplaces of today, individuals are exploring the meaning of work, their contribution, career satisfaction, and under the COVID view, evaluating their future selves. The pandemic has caused individuals to reflect and soul search about what could or should be different in their future. At Leap Solutions, we support individuals through coaching and teams through team strengthening to identify and set their Destination Postcard. We encourage introspection and the development of a clear path to achieve the individual and team vision of their best selves. We provide the tools you need to create the Destination Postcard for the “Future You”. 

 

In this issue of our newsletter:

  • The individual Destination Postcard
  • The team Destination Postcard
  • Setting yourself up for success

 

The Destination Postcard

We need change to grow as individuals, leaders, and teams, and when we know what that change looks like, it’s more likely that we will do it and stick to it, whether we’re starting a new job, moving to a new city, creating or updating a desired team culture, or starting a big project.

Change is the perfect opportunity to create a destination postcard, a vivid picture from the near-term future that shows what could be possible. It’s a concept from the book “Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard” by Chip and Dan Heath. https://heathbrothers.com/books/switch/ The destination postcard makes change manageable and creates a path for change to happen.

Your destination postcard creates a picture of where you want to be after the change. Or when you know there is a destination you want to reach and you want that clear, vivid picture of how you are going to get there. You wouldn’t take a vacation without knowing your destination or where you want to explore. Creating change, embracing change that you create, is the catalyst for your growth, the ‘I’m going to do it’ beginning. Creating your destination postcard provides the path to that place you envisioned you’d be.

 

 

But, without a clear vision of the destination, change will not happen. Without envisioning the journey and how you want to get there, it is impossible to create change.

The journey to your planned destination starts with developing goals that inspire and are also SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-specific. Often, development plans align with a company’s goals and shape our own vision but, to be impactful, a development plan needs skillful development and feedback, and not just when the annual review is conducted.

Here’s the Process:

1. Understand what is going to change or where you want to go as an individual or a team
2. Do some reflection to create vision, values, and passion for you and for your team
3. Ask yourself these questions:

  • What does success look like?
  • What does your realized self or team look like?
  • What fulfills you and your team?

 

The Individual Destination Postcard

Here’s an example of an individual’s Destination Postcard:

My Vision

My vision for the end of 2021 is that I would have started my new job and grown as a professional. I am a strong manager and leader. I have also grown personally and I am accountable to myself, my new company, and others around me.

My Values

My values are accountability, compassion, life-long learning, and empathy. My values anchor my work professionally and as personal goals.

My Passion

I am passionate about helping others and that is why I will volunteer 5 hours per month to a nonprofit that does work that aligns with my values.

SMART Goals for life priorities

Work Focus – I will work 8 hours a day and focus on reaching my quarterly outcomes for sales.

Family Focus – I will spend the weekends with the kids and go to the park on Saturdays. I will be home by dinner time every day of the week.

 

The Team Destination Postcard

The team destination postcard process is essentially the same as for your personal destination postcard, but requires team-focused introspection to uncover and agree upon direction, goals, and team commitment to the destination. Your team’s destination postcard can start with the end in mind, and affirm the team through a series of questions.

The team process:

1. Understand what is going to change or where the team wants to go.
2. Team Discovery

  • What are the team values and their meaning to us?
  • What is the vision for the team (where are we collectively headed)?
  • What brings passion to the team?

3. Team Desired Outcome questions:

  • What does success look like?
  • If we achieve our vision, what will our team have accomplished?
  • How will our culture as a team be defined?
  • To reach our outcomes, what are our team priorities?

 

Here’s an example of a team Destination Postcard:

Team Vision

Create a clear message for our clients and partners so they can join our organization.

Team Values

We value trust, commitment, and our value proposition.

Team Passion

We are passionate about creating a message that will draw new clients and partners to our business.

SMART Goals for Team Focus

We will work as a team and meet once a week until we launch our new message by December.

 

 

For individuals and teams, remember these four areas for creating your destination postcard:

Vision: What is YOUR north star?
Values: What anchors you?
Passion: What makes you passionate about your values and vision?
Priorities: What themes fuel your vision?

 

Setting Yourself Up for Success

A destination postcard sets you up for success and leads you in the right direction. Without a clear vision of the destination, change will not happen. Without envisioning the journey and how you want to get there, it is impossible to create change.

Individually, I use my destination postcard to guide my career-life balance. It includes how I want to grow as a consultant and provide high-quality services for our clients; speaks to my aspiration to balance my life and find time to volunteer in the community; puts a focus on personal health; and reminds me to spend time with family and friends.

Our clients use their destination postcards to guide cultural change initiatives, team building and development, and changes in leadership. Their destination postcards serve a critical purpose as they experience change and innovation. They know where they want to go and how to get there.

A coaching client used her destination postcard to guide her in the next level of her career. Abby was recently promoted to a managerial position. She knew what kind of manager she wanted to be and knew what kind of culture she wanted to create for her team, but she didn’t know how she was going to get there. We worked with her to develop her destination postcard and create goals for herself, and the team. She then had direction, knew she wanted to be a great manager, and needed to invest in professional development to reach her goal.

She also wanted her team to appreciate and practice collaboration, so she made these a priority by modeling what collaboration was to her team. Her destination postcard enabled her to move in the best direction for her and her team. She made her vision real by centering herself, understanding the values, vision, mission, and listing her priorities using SMART goals. Today, Abby excels at her job and has a team culture to be proud of.

Let’s get you started on yours and your team’s Destination Postcard. Reach out to us and we’ll guide you through the process, support your desired change, and celebrate with you when the change train arrives at your destination!

 

 

***

Leap Solutions is a diverse group of highly skilled management, organizational development, and human resources, and executive search and recruitment professionals who have spent decades doing what we feel passionate about helping you feel passionate about what you do. Our HR specialists can help you get a handle on the ever-changing COVID-19 guidelines, programs, and legislation that may impact you and your employees. We are available to work with you to develop practical solutions and smart planning decisions for your organization’s immediate, near, and long-term needs.

To print this article, click here