Episode 4 – Achieving Goals

Is it your job to hand-hold the people on your team? I hear that sort of response a lot from people who want their direct reports to be independent. That’s a good goal but it doesn’t happen overnight. I think maybe the hand-holding concern is asking the wrong question. The real question is this: Do you want to invest in your people in a way that makes them successful? That’s an entirely different framework, isn’t it? And it’s one that gives you as a leader a much clearer perspective on your role as a leader. You are there to equip and train the people under you. It’s your job. On this episode, I’m going to teach you how you as a leader can train your people to achieve their goals every, single time. And it happens through what I call person-centered coaching.

The directive model of coaching creates people who are dependent on you. Bad news.

There are lots of ways you can lead and coach a person. One way is the directive approach. It’s where you simply tell them what to do. That’s fine if something crucial needs to happen right away but long-term it’s not the best option. Why? Because it places the burden of decision-making on you and you alone. You don’t want that. You want team members who can think on their feet and come up with great solutions entirely independent of you. Don’t you? The person-centered coaching model I cover in this episode will help you develop team members who add to the success of your business through making their own contributions. It’s a skill worth knowing.

Help people learn how to discover options and you’ll develop problem – solving machines.

One of the key steps when helping your team members learn how to set and accomplish goals is the option discovery phase. When your team members can come up with options for a particular problem or task all on their own you don’t have an employee who is waiting on you to tell them what to do, you have a problem-solving machine who can take a big weight off of you and help the business thrive independently. On this episode, I’m going to cover in detail what it looks like to help a person learn to discover the options in a situation. It’s worth the time it will take you to listen.

After choosing the best options, you must ask – What has to be done? By whom? By when?

Setting goals effectively often comes to a standstill at the point of taking action. That’s because too often things are left ambiguous. When you don’t have enough specificity nobody knows what to do. You don’t want your team members setting goals that way so you’ve got teach them how to choose the best solution to their assigned tasks, how to define them clearly, how to know who is to do it, and when it is to be done by. It’s pretty basic but it’s those kinds of specifics that make a goal actionable. I’m going to walk you through the process in this episode.

There’s a big difference between advice and feedback and it has to do with timing.

When you’ve helped a team member come up with a plan of action for their goals, it’s time for you to get out of the way. The time will come, at a predetermined point in the process, when you will give feedback, but until then you need to let them run. If you give feedback too soon, it’s not feedback – it’s advice. And that communicates that you don’t trust the team member or don’t have confidence in them. Those are NOT things you want them to feel. Learn how and when to give proper feedback to your team when they are working to achieve their goals, on this episode of 180 Mentoring.

Outline of This Episode

[1:03] My introduction to this episode on achieving goals.
[1:46] Pro sports teams and athletes as an example of goal achievement.
[2:99] Is it your job to hand-hold the people on your team? Maybe that’s the wrong question.
[4:35] Person-centered coaching and some examples of how it works.
[8:53] The types of people you’l meet when applying this coaching/leadership style.
[9:50] Using G.O.A.L. to achieve goals.
[22:02] Checking up on goals that your direct reports have set.

Resources & People Mentioned

The directive model of coaching creates people who are dependent on you. Bad news.

Help people learn how to discover options and you’ll develop problem – solving machines.

After choosing the best options, you must ask – What has to be done? By whom? By when?

There’s a big difference between advice and feedback and it has to do with timing.

Outline of This Episode

Resources & People Mentioned

Connect With Terry at 180 Mentoring