Employee Led, Goal Setting C2 Advising Employee Led, Goal Setting C2 Advising

Employee-Led Goal Setting: Alignment

As we continue our efforts to assist in making goal setting more effective and a meaningful investment of time, you know, not just another check the box activity, we want to focus this blog on the second element of effective goal setting, alignment.

Imagine if a team of sled dogs were not aligned and pulling in every direction.  You would get nowhere quickly and chaos, frustration, and ultimately resignation would ensue.  The same holds true with organizations, departments, and individuals. If the actions, activities, behaviors, and priorities where not all aligned, the same chaos, frustration, and ultimately resignation would rule.

Once we have achieved maximum clarity on the vision, mission, values, and our role in supporting each, we now need to consider the actual activities, the time lines for those activities, and equally important, how we will be going about delivering those activities behaviorally, as well as what resources will be required.  Creating specific, measurable, and time-bound goals is critical, but what is even more important is ensuring those actions, activities, and behaviors are aligned with the organization, department/business units, and those individuals you will be working with and around. 

So how do you gain alignment?  It starts with mutually defining success.  First define success on each goal/activity from your perspective then connect with those identified resources that will be impacted or will be necessary in achieving each goal.  Sit with them and ask them what success looks like from their perspective.  Then align all of those visions for success into one mutually defined vision and path.  End by stating “Here is what you can expect from me.” and have them express to you the same.  Then and only then do you have both clarity and alignment that will lead to the final element of successful goal planning, Accountability. 

Start with you defining success. The magic is when everyone is completely aligned with you and just like that dog team, the speed and power that is generated driving for that success is unstoppable.

Cornerstone Learning is a performance and leadership consulting organization that has worked with clients all over the world. Our focus is working with individuals and organizations to create performance solutions that deliver top-tier results by inspiring, enabling, and developing employee-led, leader supported, and organization enabled performance. We are able to successfully deliver this through multiple products and services such as employee surveys, online training, performance assessments, and performance coaching. The goal at Cornerstone Learning is to assist our clients in developing a dynamic and customized blue print to deliver role model organizational and personal performance.

 
 
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Employee Led, Goal Setting, Performance C2 Advising Employee Led, Goal Setting, Performance C2 Advising

Employee-Led Goal Setting: Your Performance, Your Career, in Your Control

It is that time of the year where the hustle and bustle of the holidays has started and we are asked to set our personal goals for the new year.  Unfortunately, most of us view this as a “check the box” activity that we are required to do but see little value in return.

This year try approaching your goal setting differently!  Use the goal setting process to gain greater organizational clarity, ensure your personal alignment to achieve results, and establish a foundation for personal accountability and success.  We will explore clarity in this week’s blog, and alignment and accountability in goal setting over the next 2 weeks.

Clarity:

Now is the perfect opportunity as you develop your yearly goals to seek and gain greater clarity to the vision, mission, and values of the organization and departmental direction.  During your process of setting goals gather all of the information you can concerning the vision, mission and values for both your organization and the department you support.  How can you effectively set a goal if you don’t know where you are going? Find out what success looks like so you can plan on how you will get there. Do your research. I think you will find the exercise itself will provide invaluable insight as you develop your 2017 goals and personal plan of development.

Want to gain even more clarity?  Ask for your formal job description if you don’t already have it. How does it describe and define your role and responsibilities?  Job descriptions are rarely ever used in goal setting but it should always be a starting point so you clearly understand what is expected of you in performing your role, which give you the ability to plan appropriately.  As a part of this exercise you can continually update the formal role and responsibilities as they evolve and change each year.

Gaining clarity will serve as the first building block in setting meaningful and relevant goals.  Next week we will take what you have discovered while gaining clarity and begin to align your actions, activities, and behaviors to your organization and department direction.

Until next week!

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Leadership, Goal Setting, wisdomwednesday C2 Advising Leadership, Goal Setting, wisdomwednesday C2 Advising

The Dove Hunt That Changed Everything! #Leadership #GoalSetting #WisdomWednesday #CornerstoneLearning

Only three years into my career as an account executive for FedEx, I had one of life’s simple but defining moments for me.  I had just moved into a new house with my wife and two kids under the age of 5.  I felt like I had everything under control and headed in the right direction.  And then came the dove hunt invite that changed everything.

While I am not a big hunter, I did appreciate the invite from guys in the new neighborhood just trying to get to know one another.  It was going to be a day trip about 2 hours away.  The cost was $12.00 to hunt on the lease and the cost of shotgun shells.  While preparing for the trip I let the family know I was going to be gone on that Saturday but back that night and then the question came..."Does it cost anything?"  I said, “Yes, but not much, just $12.00 and some ammunition.”  I was completely shocked by the response. “While I would love for you to go, unfortunately we don’t have $12.00 for you to go”!  I had just had a bombshell dropped on me that I was not prepared for and I had to reevaluate everything. 

I work hard, we didn’t spen extravagantly, and a small opportunity to enjoy life I couldn’t do.  I was always told and heard motivational speakers all the time say you have to have goals if you are truly going to gain things you want or need in life.  That very meaningless event, when you look at the scope and complexity of life, did have a profound impact on me.

Rather than going hunting, I sat down that Saturday and started to write down goals, both personally and professionally.  I started with a list of things I wanted to do and needed to do but that required clarity and a focus to achieve.  Things like, I wanted to become a District Sales Manager in 3 years.  It is simply amazing how the law of attraction and achievement starts to take over when you commit to certain goals. 

You know, it may have just been pure coincidence or luck but within 45 days after sitting down that Saturday I was chosen, after an extensive internal interview process, to move to Memphis, Tennessee, the corporate headquarters for FedEx and become 1 of 5 Sales Training Facilitators, a 24 month program used to develop the future sales managers in the organization.

Not only did I achieve my goal of becoming a District Sales Manager in 18 months, I also found a love and passion for training and developing others that led me to co-found, with my manager at the time, David Cottrell, Cornerstone Leadership. That was now over 20 years ago.

I challenge you, take 30 minutes today listing out what you what to accomplish. You just never know where this simple act might take you.  I can assure you of one thing; If you don’t ever set goals, you will never achieve them.  Next week I will give you a simple and easy framework to set your goals.

Have a great week!

- Ken

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