Goal Setting for Your Coaching Programme

Goal setting is an important part of most coaching programmes.  The process of goal setting itself, and not just the goals that result, is valuable:

• it causes you to think about what is important - your purpose, values, direction, performance, personal satisfaction. Frequently we are too busy to take time out to simply think about what we are doing, where we are going and how we'd like to get there. One of the core benefits of coaching is the opportunity to take space and time to reflect on your performance, career and life, think about your future and plan your next steps. 
• It enables you to examine and to make choices - it gives you control and autonomy about where and how you spend your time and effort.
• Defining your goals - in a clear and structured way - enables you to develop a plan to achieve them. If you are unclear about where you are going or about what good looks like, then anywhere or anything, will do. Usually that won't be sufficient.

Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don't much care where.
The Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn't much matter which way you go.

The initial conversations you have with your coach will help you to develop clarity on your situation, your potential and future direction. In particular, it will help provide clarity around what brings you to coaching: Why are you here and what are you hoping to achieve through it?

You may be unclear about your aspirations or perhaps have not previously spent time thinking about them but recognise that you need to change something. The work you do with your coach will help you to explore your options and think about where your potential might lead you. Getting clarity over these aspirations will help you to formulate what you need to develop and work on in order to achieve them.

if you are currently unclear about your specific goals, your own personal insights and the initial coaching will help you determine (a) where you are now and (b) where you wish to be. Your development goals arise from understanding what you need to do differently/better/more of in order to achieve (b).  There may be as many development goals as you consider appropriate but it is not recommended that there are too many. Two to four goals is an optimal number.

Setting clear, SMART goals (see below) will greatly assist you in working on and achieving your goals. This takes time in thinking about and defining them, but this process ensures you are not vague or subsequently unclear or lacking in motivation when it comes to carrying out your actions. This activity identifies the actual things you will do to achieve each goal. It turns an abstract thought into concrete tasks. Your coach will work with you to help define these.  

Measures and timescales

These should arise from use of the SMART goal setting approach (see below). As you progress through your coaching programme it will be important that you and your coach are able to assess your progress to ensure that all is on track and going well, or to provide additional input. So thinking about how you will know that appropriate progress is being made helps in that assessment, and ultimately will ensure you succeed in achieving your goals. 

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SMART Goals

SMART goals are:

• ​Specific The goal should identify a specific outcome or event that will take place
• Measurable The goal and its benefits should be quantifiable
• Achievable The goal should be attainable given available resources
• Realistic The goal should require you to stretch some, but allow the likelihood of success
• Time-bound The goal should state the time period in which it will be accomplished

Tips for setting SMART goals

“People who set goals are more likely to succeed than people who do not.” Tal Ben Shahar, Harvard University

• State goals as declarations of intention, not items on a wish list. "I want to ..." lacks power. "I will..." is intentional and powerful. 
• Use clear, specific language
• Start your goal statement with "To" and a verb
• Use the SMART goal approach
• Avoid using negative language - positive wording is more motivating and associated with better success

Example goal statements:​

• To achieve promotion to [role] by May 2022 
• To develop my confidence and personal presence in order to present a paper on ABC at the XYZ conference in December 2021 

Keeping motivated and making progress

As you work through your coaching programme you will be endeavouring to make progress on your coaching commitments at the same time as managing your day to day workload effectively and well. This is likely to require some thought and planning - how will you make this work? Your coach can also help you with advice on planning and time management if you need it.

Setting goals that are genuinely motivating will help you to keep going - picturing in your mind the achievement of your goals should inspire you and provide you with sufficient energy to persevere. If it doesn't, you might want to look at them again and redraft them so that they are suitably energising.

You might find this animated talk from Dan Pink, discussing what keeps us motivated at work, interesting: 

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