Not sure where I got this Q&A - I clipped it from the web a while ago- but its a great discussion on setting goals from an executive coach. Q. I like to live each day at a time. Im pretty laid back and like to be spontaneous, but Im in my late 30s and my career is not thriving. How can I start getting the promotions and the salary I want? A. If you want to move up a corporate food chain, you cannot be a leaf in the wind. Youll simply end up with everyone elses agenda blowing you around in ways that serve their goals. My clients tell me one of the hardest aspects of executive coaching is realizing that they have got to define their own goals. No good fairy is going to show up someday and tell them what they ought to be when they grow up. As we age, it does tend to occur to us that the grown-ups are now us. The only guarantee we have at work is our failure to define our goals means we will end up somewhere else. A liberating way to start goal setting is to pretend you do know a magic fairy and that its on your schedule this week to have lunch with her. What would you ask her for? If you believed you could do absolutely anything, where would you tell her you want to go? Now, the scary part is to put a road map between where you are now and where you want to be. Most of my time with clients is spent building this road. The biggest challenge for them is to be willing to break the journey into baby steps. The reason baby steps are tough is most people want something they could do tomorrow that will cause the clouds to break open and the angels to sing. Unfortunately, no goal you can put on your list will give you this Technicolor result. Instead, we have to be willing to pick away at what looks like a mountain with a fork but do it every day. Youd be amazed at the steps you can carve into the side of the mountain with a fork by tenacity, consistency and clarity of direction. Once you know where you are going and the steps you are going to take, it is much easier to influence other people toward your goals. During meetings, you can articulate where you will end up. During your conversations with your boss you can get his counsel on how best to go where you want. As you have these conversations, you build a buzz and belief in others that you are going to do exactly what youve been saying. Others will then support and anticipate your future achievements. Floating on the latest corporate breeze and crossing your fingers that people will support the goals that you yourself cant even articulate is only a recipe for misery. At the end of a long career, you may have been spontaneous but it is highly unlikely you will be happy or well paid.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 02:49:16 +0000