How do effective leaders do goal setting and execution? - part #4

When executing a goal, I love Marcus Aurelius’s mindset as described in Ryan Holiday’s book, The Obstacle Is The Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph, Penguin, 2014. “Our actions may be impeded . . . but there can be no impeding our intentions or dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” 

As we move from goal setting to the execution stage, we need to discuss two items with all involved. First, we need to define what is the difference between a goal and a priority. As we all know, priorities will surface. We also know that most people don’t know how to determine if something should be more important than executing their goals.

Second, we need to discuss how to prioritize all of one’s different goals. With three to five goals as the norm for peak performance, which one should I focus on first? Remember people will always prioritize day to day work over a goal.

Furthermore, every one needs time to work on their goals. As Greg McKeown, in his excellent book called Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Crown Business, 2014, writes: “What we can’t do is concentrate on two things at the same time…. Multitasking itself is not the enemy of Essentialism; pretending we can “multifocus” is.” In short, the execution of goals comes down to time and attention

Next, we as leaders need to understand that effective execution involves an accountability system. As Ken Blanchard in his book,  Leading At a Higher Level: Blanchard on Leadership and Creating High Performing Organizations, Prentice Hall, 2006, wrote: “To obtain desired performance from its people, an organization must first have a well-defined accountability system.” He also pointed out that “People must also know what a good performance looks like.”

When we keep the above in mind, we recognize that people need regular feedback about their work. And supervisors need people who are working on goals to send progress reports about how they are doing on their goals. As Gary  Keller with Jay Papasan in his book, The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, Bard Press, 2012, notes, “Individuals who wrote their goals and send progress reports to friends were 76.7 percent more likely to achieve them.”

This week, remember to help people make meaningful progress on their goals. The outcomes will be spectacular.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

How Do Leaders Prioritize? Part #1

Last fall, I had the opportunity to sit down with a group of young leaders and engage in an extended Q&A session about leadership and organizational change. It was a lively and very thought-provoking afternoon. In the middle of our time together, I got asked the following question: “How do leaders prioritize?”

I replied by asking a clarifying question, “Operational priorities or strategic priorities?”

Their response was “Both!”

My first thought as I pondered the question was a quote by the late Stephen R. Covey: “To set and work toward any goal is an act of courage.”

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Here was my initial response. 

“First, I know that defining priorities is not a linear process but instead a more dynamic process with multiple things happening at once. 

Second, discernment, which is the first step to defining priorities, happens when there is a framework that is guiding the organization and the person. 

Third, successful leaders understand that defining a priority is not the same as actually executing a priority. It is the later that makes the former a true priority.”

The hard part about defining priorities is that we, as leaders, need to balance the focus on short term results with the constant pressure to position the company for the future. Understanding the complexity of this balancing act makes a major difference when prioritizing.

Still, the big question is: How do leaders actually do it?

The simple answer is that they have a framework for thinking through what is happening. This framework comes from their understanding of the strategic nexus, their interaction with their boss, and their past experiences. Yet at the core of this framework is a drive for excellence.

At this core of excellence is an innate drive to constantly want to get better. It overrides any measure of mediocrity, complacency, or even failure. It means adjusting to normal changes with technical precision and artful grace so that every client or customer has a mission driven experience. 

Our job as leaders is to teach and reinforce this core of excellence, and to help others distinguish between excellence and non-excellence. I recognize that working from this place is harder in the beginning. It requires dialogue, education, over-communication, coaching and constant reinforcing clarity. At times, “my way or the highway” would be faster but in the end, it is not better.

This week, reflect on whether or not you and your team are working from this core of excellence.  If so, support all people who are moving in the right direction. If not, build it. This foundation is mission critical to prioritizing.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257

Defining Priorities

Over the last 16 months, I have had the delightful opportunity to teach and visit with numerous first time, front line supervisors from many different industries and from many different parts of the country. Repeatedly, in large and small group settings, I have been asked the following question: “How do you prioritize?” It is a fantastic question and one that I, and other senior leaders, have struggled to answer.

The challenge is that we, experienced coaches, consultants, and senior leaders, do it unconsciously. We really don’t think about it. Instead, we just do it. The difficulty is that others are wanting to do it well too. And now we are called to explain our thinking and our process.

First, I know that defining priorities is not a linear process but instead a more dynamic process with multiple things happening at once. 

Second, discernment, which is the first step to defining priorities, happens when there is a framework that is guiding the organization and the person. 

Third, successful leaders understand that defining a priority is not the same as actually executing a priority. It is the later that makes the former a true priority.  

We will be exploring this subject and many others in greater detail during the upcoming Spring ’16 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable. 

For more details, please click on the following link:

http://www.chartyourpath.com/VTA-RT-Details.html

To register, please click on this link:

http://www.chartyourpath.com/pdf/2016-From-Vision-To-Action-Exec-Roundtable-Regist.pdf

If defining priorities and helping others do this better is part of your future, I will look forward to seeing you at the Spring 2016 From Vision to Action Executive Roundtable.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257