27 Jun
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership, Success

Destination Goals

We’ve addressed the need for courageous leadership and having and living your dream. Next we’ll discuss the need for having documented goals and why they help you reach your desired destination.

Here are some interesting statistics about what having goals can do for you…

“A study was made of alumni 10 years out of Harvard to find out how many were achieving their goals. An astounding 83 percent had no goals at all. Fourteen percent had specific goals but they were not written down. Their average earnings were three times what those in the 83 percent group were earning. However, the three percent who had written goals were earning 10 times that of the 83 percent group.”

No one knows why a written goal is more effective than one that’s known and understood but not committed to paper. Some psychologists theorize that writing triggers important processes in the subconscious, which in turn inspires action towards achieving those written goals.

Regardless of the reason, goals keep us moving forward and help us focus and track our progress.

I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.
–Jimmy Dean

We’re mid way through the year (hard to believe isn’t it?), so this is a perfect time to review and update your goals.

  • Which have been achieved?
  • Which have been missed or neglected?
  • Which need to be revised or deleted?
  • Do any new goals need to be added?

Think SMART

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Achievable and actionable
  • Realistic
  • Time-bound

Have you documented your year-end destination?

12 Components That Require Courage

  1. Have and live your dream.
  2. Document your goals.
  3. Commit to your goals.
  4. Understand your strengths and the strengths of others.
  5. Communicate.
  6. Address conflict.
  7. Develop others.
  8. Delegate.
  9. Develop a skill.
  10. Remain controlled.
  11. Give rewards.
  12. Succeed and learn from failure.

Read more about 12 Steps For Courageous Leadership.

20 Jun
PeopleTek Coaching Success

Live Your Dream!

Start By Identifying & Documenting Your Dream

We’re picking up on last week’s article that concluded with “write down your dream, summon the courage to take action, and then take control!”

Ask yourself the following questions to start:

  • What is your dream?
  • How do you want to live your life?
  • What would make you truly happy?
  • What would it take to begin to make progress towards achieving this dream?
  • Are you ready to take that first step? That is, to identify and document your dream?

For some this is problematic. Not everyone allows themselves to envision or identify their dream. They conduct day to day activities, are almost on “automatic pilot,” do what they need to do to be moderately successful, but don’t take the time to reflect on what really makes them thrive and feel valuable.

Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.
–Gail Devers

Dream Big and Live Your Own Life!

Why not make your dream be all it can be? Some individuals dream only small dreams and even fear having a “big” dream. They let gremlins get in the way and actually worry about what could happen if their dream came true.

Don’t allow others to tell you what your dream should be; create your own! How can others know what you truly want? Only you understand and have an unlimited vision of your dreams; don’t let others squelch your enthusiasm, even if it’s someone you respect and appreciate.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
–Steve Jobs

Establish a Timeline to Achieve Your Dream

Have you established steps and a timeline to make your dreams a reality? Utilize PeopleTek’s COMPASS to help with strategies and direction. Assess the following:

  • Is my dream documented?
  • Do I demonstrate the behaviors necessary to realize it?
  • Have I communicated this with others?
  • Do my behaviors need to change to make my dream a reality?
  • What is known and shared about my strengths and opportunities for it to be real?
  • In what ways could I be more open and authentic to live my dream?
  • Who can I ask for feedback to learn more about my strengths and areas for improvement?
  • How can I be more creative and innovative to make progress?

Some dreams take decades to achieve. Be realistic and realize that nothing happens overnight; obstacles are not unusual, but certainly can be overcome! Expect them, plan for them, and don’t beat yourself up if your timeline (or even your dream) changes.

Life is filled with decisions, challenges, rewards, benefits and consequences, but bottom line there are choices we must make. Some to consider include:

  • What works for you and feels “right”?
  • What can you learn from it?
  • How are you adding value?
  • Are you moving forward or restricting yourself?

12 Actions Leaders Should Live By

The following twelve actions require courage and are all necessary for effective leadership. These actions are also particularly helpful if you are committed to living your dream.

  1. Have and live your dream.
  2. Document your goals.
  3. Commit to your goals.
  4. Understand your strengths and the strengths of others.
  5. Communicate.
  6. Address conflict.
  7. Develop others.
  8. Delegate.
  9. Develop a skill.
  10. Remain controlled.
  11. Give rewards.
  12. Succeed and learn from failure.

Read more about 12 Steps For Courageous Leadership.

Write down how you’d like to live your life, identify your dream, summon the courage to take action, and then take control.

Wishing you success!

QwikTip and QwikCoach

PeopleTek’s Strategic partner, E-Coach, specializes in online coaching tools.

QwikTip for How to be More Effective at Developing Yourself

And for those with a QwikCoach license, refresh your existing skills and acquire new skills by visiting the QwikTips library for leadership ideas and techniques.

If you don’t have QwikCoach, it’s an excellent resource for growing your leadership skills remotely that you should consider.

Learn More About QwikCoach

Help turn your leadership knowledge into leadership action!

13 Jun
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Courage, Life, and Leadership

Courage is a requirement for success and has been acknowledged as a need throughout history.

Wikipedia defines courage as:

Courage is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation;…Moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, or discouragement. In some traditions, fortitude holds approximately the same meaning as courage.

Being courageous is a must for strong and effective leadership. You must be true to yourself and allow your conscience to guide you through unpopular decisions.

Aristotle said: Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.

Ernest Hemingway said: courage is grace under pressure.

Winston Churchill said: Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.

Abraham Lincoln said: It often requires more courage to dare to do right than to fear to do wrong.

Leadership, like life, requires courage. And, when you combine courage with a strong sense of awareness (of self and others), with a commitment for growth and development, your comfort zone expands and we more readily accept and lead others through change.

Fear is an inhibitor, but when recognized and linked with courage, it can produce great results, create inspirational thoughts, and be liberating.

Expand your life and your leadership skills and behaviors!

Embrace your feelings of both fear and courage to acknowledge and manage the challenges you face.  This will better position you to live your dream (which coincidentally is the first of twelve components found in our 12 Steps For Courageous Leadership!).

12 Components That Require Courage

  1. Have and live your dream.
  2. Document your goals.
  3. Commit to your goals.
  4. Understand your strengths and the strengths of others.
  5. Communicate.
  6. Address conflict.
  7. Develop others.
  8. Delegate.
  9. Develop a skill.
  10. Remain controlled.
  11. Give rewards.
  12. Succeed and learn from failure.
10 Jun
PeopleTek Coaching Leadership

Are You a Technician or a Leader?

Effective Leaders Develop Their Skills

When I was starting my professional career, I needed to develop my technical competencies in order to become proficient in the IT area I was hired for.

After several years I learned the skills, abilities, and talents to be a very good technician, but I needed more! I wanted to lead people and realized I did not possess the skill-sets necessary to be an effective leader.

Like so many other technicians, I was very good at my job as a technician, but when tapped for a leadership promotion, I was not ready.

It is not uncommon to promote individuals that are great technicians, but is this optimal? Newly promoted leaders are not always provided with the tools, mentorship and development opportunities to be effective.

Obtain Input

This is a process that may be done over time (and repeated annually), and there are various tools that will help address that input. Some areas you need to assess are explained in our Leadership Compass. These include how we make decisions, handle conflict, motivate and inspire others, and create and take action against our vision, mission and goals.

The optimal situation is to have input from various sources; consider colleagues, bosses, customers, vendor partners, and others. We sometimes cannot see ourselves and “how we show up”. It’s weird because if others see us clearly, why can’t we see ourselves?

Often when we receive the feedback we feel badly. This is okay as it means we care about how we are perceived by others, and that we desire to do well, and are hopefully willing to change!

Improve your effectiveness and levels of impact by having and communicating clearly defined vision, mission, and goals, and determine the behaviors needed for the destination you strive for. The Leadership Compass will help.

Contact us with your questions or for a consultation. Start your Leadership Improvement Process now!