Let me just go ahead and put this out there. I’m Catholic, and I pretty much always feel like I need to go to confession for something. (Can you say #catholicguilt?)
Today I want to come clean with you. So here goes. I used to be one of those people – you know those statistics that you hear every year – who would make New Year’s resolutions and then never keep them.
Yep. It’s true. Guilty as charged. I’d set goals and intentions in January and basically just hope for the best. At some point I finally had to admit that hope is not a leadership strategy.
I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I now have a perfect batting average when it comes to achieving my goals and intentions for the year. But I HAVE gotten a whole lot better at it and I thought I’d share some of the techniques that I use.
Go within.
Ironically the first step to achieving goals, i.e., external accomplishments, is to go within. Often the very thing that’s holding you back is, well, you! It’s a little like trying to drive with one foot on the accelerator and one foot on the brake at the same time. As someone who’s spent a fair amount of my LIFE in this self-defeating do loop, trust me, I know what I’m talking about. (Insert emoji of a girl with her palm on forehead.)
Start with what kind of person you want to be and start identifying as that kind of person. If you want to run a marathon, you want to think of yourself as a runner. Put in leadership terms, if you want to be a trusted leader, you’ll need to think of yourself as trusted, inclusive, and open to feedback, (for starters).
Remember, how you think impacts how you feel. How you feel impacts how you behave. How you behave and the actions you take impact your results.
Ask “What would that person do?”
Next, you’ll want to identify what actions you’ll need to take to become that person. Stack habits that will move you closer to your goal. To be a runner, and to ultimately run a marathon, you’ll need to…. wait for it… run. On a regular basis. You get the picture.
Plan for your success.
It won’t just happen. You’ve got to set up measures or triggers or enablers that will help you to do the things you really want to do. Reverse engineer it. Remove as many obstacles to the desired behavior as possible. If you want to run early in the morning, set your running clothes and shoes out the night before.
And for me the most effective technique is to schedule it in my calendar.
Some things you might want to get on your calendar:
- Regular 1:1 check-ins with team members – Get this on both your calendars
- Strategic thinking /planning time
- Quarterly reviews and planning/adjustments
- Your vacation(s)! Because you know darn well if you don’t block the time now, a bunch of little ticky tacky things will eat up your time and next thing you know it’s 2024 and you’ve had no 2023 vacay.
- Self-care appointments
Bake in Accountability
For some this might mean enlisting an accountability partner. Find a friend or a colleague who wants to work on some new habit or goal whose game to check in regularly to keep you both accountable. Or maybe this is the year you finally engage a coach. A coach can help you in establishing both long and short-term goals, practices to achieve them, and can hold up a mirror to help you to see what you can’t see on your own. (If you’d like to learn what coaching with me looks like, schedule a call with me.)
Another effective practice is to assess your performance regularly. Schedule yourself time – on your calendar – (see how I did that?) to review your practices and habits as well as results each quarter (or month). Tweak as needed.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
You can use this process in every area of your life – whether it’s leadership, fitness, relationships, or writing a book.
So many books and “experts” preach goal achievement in theoretical terms. But I always wanted to say, “But what does that really look like, say, on a Tuesday in April at 10:00 AM?” I just found it so impractical.
I hope this is helpful and practical. If you use these tips, I’d love to hear from you.
Now if you‘ll excuse me, I gotta get to church to confess my sin of making light of the sacrament of confession. I wonder if the priest will give me an easy penance, since I did it in service of others? Hmmm. Say a prayer for me, will ya?
I’ll be your guide on the side to help you with your 2023 goal setting. Schedule a complimentary discovery call here: https://calendly.com/jennifer-ledet
You might also like:
The Best-Kept Secret of High Performing Teams
Lead Yourself and Your Team Out of the Land of Stuck
Jennifer Ledet, CSP, is a leadership consultant and professional speaker (with a hint of Cajun flavor) who equips leaders from the boardroom to the mailroom to improve employee engagement, teamwork, and communication. In her customized programs, leadership retreats, keynote presentations, and breakout sessions, she cuts through the BS and talks through the tough stuff to solve your people problems.
