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PERSONAL VISION

So many people go through life without a personal vision. If you are one of those individuals (don’t worry, I was too), it is not too late. The following questions will help you think about what your personal vision could look like. Your personal vision should guide you in all other aspects of your life.

  • If you could project ten years from today, where will you be, what will you be doing and who will you be with?
  • If you attain your vision, what would you be doing differently than you are today?
  • Will you commit to taking the actions needed to reach your vision?
  • What obstacles or challenges do you feel you may have to overcome to attain your vision?
  • What support do you need, and from whom to get started, stay motivated and keep accountable?
  • Have you shared your vision with anyone?
  • Share it, review it regularly and commit to moving it forward by continuous execution of ACTION.

 

‘Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?’
– Mary Oliver

 

FIVE EASY STEPS TO YOUR PERSONAL VISION

  1. Develop a PERSONAL VISION – what do you want to do, where do you want to go and how do you
    want to feel? See it, feel it, imagine it.
  2. Set GOALS that will help you achieve your vision. Goals will help you identify actions required for execution. Prioritize your goals and define what you need to focus on per quarter moving forward. List the goals that you will work on through to completion next quarter.
  3. For each goal, PLAN the keystone actions required for every week of the quarter (12 weeks) to produce the results you are looking to achieve. When possible, list action items that can be completed within one week. These will drive your weekly and daily plans.
  4. Commit to working on the WEEKLY ACTIONS. Don’t lose traction. Even when you don’t feel like working on one of the actions, remain true to your commitments. Continuous execution of actions will ensure you retain momentum.
  5. Every Monday, spend 15-30 minutes conducting a WEEKLY REVIEW (what you focused on the week prior) and weekly preview (what you will focus on this week). Your weekly plan will help you map out the actions required in your schedule. Do not skip this step! This will help you MEASURE your weekly success and identify areas that need your attention and improvement.

 

WHAT DOES A GREAT WEEK LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?

Our days are often taken up by items we have not planned or scheduled. To allow time in your schedule to work on priorities, I suggest you allocate three periods in your weekly schedule to increase your efficiency and enable greater focus on tasks required for goal attainment.

WEEKLY THREE-HOUR STRATEGIC BLOCK

This three-hour period is scheduled, not interruptible and prioritized in your weekly plan. During this time, turn your notifications off. Don’t answer the phone during this period, and if in an office, close your door. This time will require 100% of your focus and should never be bumped. It will help you dig deep into strategic activities and get things done.

TWO DAILY 30-MINUTE BUFFER BLOCKS

Schedule one 30-minute period in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Use this time to make/answer phone calls, return voice mail, answer/send emails, and deal with low-value activities.

WEEKLY THREE-HOUR FREE BLOCK

Use this time to get away from your computer and perform face-to-face activities. Lunch or coffee with colleagues/clients/stakeholders. This time helps you focus on priority relationships that require your full attention.

 

‘Unless commitment is made, there are only promise and hopes; but no plans.’
– Peter Drucker

 

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

‘Once I have a holiday, I will have more energy.’
‘When we hire additional resources, we will be more organized.’
‘When the economy picks up, things will be better.’
‘Things will settle down after our busy period, and we will have more time to work on process improvements.’

Stop waiting for things to change. Make the change. You have control of one thing – your actions.

Take responsibility for the actions you take.

Commit to focusing on your actions to make your vision a reality, be self-accountable, and consistently execute on what needs to be done.

No more excuses, demonstrate your commitment – let’s get going.

BE IN THE MOMENT

Technology is excellent. However, how often do we get so distracted by it and forget to be in the moment? Alerts pinging, social notices, text messages… all take you away from being in the present. It is almost as though the fear of missing out outweighs social interaction conventions, whether in a professional or social setting. Being continually on is exhausting, stressful, and often a factor of burnout.

How much will you miss if you don’t look at your phone when you are in a meeting or when talking to one of your colleagues, clients, or stakeholders?

I encourage you this week to SLOW DOWN, be present and focus on one thing at a time. You will be surprised by how much you get done and how better you feel.

ACTION COMMITMENTS

Choose one thing that would make a significant difference if you did it daily in your professional or personal life.

Got it? Now commit to doing it daily for one quarter. The simple act of consistently executing on a critical action item that will help you be better in your job or personal life will benefit you fivefold.

 

‘There’s no such thing as work-life balance. There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences.’
– Jack Welch

 

If you have any questions about personal visions, or want to learn more on the powerful benefits of executive coaching to elevate your professional success, please reach out to +1 604-616-1967 or jenny@jennyreilly.com and book a complimentary 30-minute strategy session. If you want monthly leadership and professional development tips, sign up for my JRC newsletter or check out my social media on Instagram for top leadership advice throughout the year.

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KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY IN LEADERSHIP

Leadership is complex and challenging. You need to set the direction, communicate your vision, and be on top of strategy execution.

Focus on a positive workplace/team culture, align and mobilize talent to ensure they are working to their strengths and effective in their roles.

You are connecting purposefully internally and externally with a timely cadence. And…all the while personally managing your effectiveness and energy levels.

How a person performs in a leadership role matters. This is an obvious statement, but one we need to ponder as the top 20% of leaders could contribute more than 2.8% of the average leader.

Working on soft leadership skills is hard – ironic, isn’t it!

If you rate yourself on how you are performing as a leader on a scale of 1-5 (1-being abysmal to 5-knocking it out of the park)

  • How are you performing?
  • Why do you give yourself this rating, and in what areas can you improve?

No matter the industry sector nor size of the business or team, a leader’s key areas of responsibility include these steps:

1. SETTING THE DIRECTION

Looking back to look forward or conducting a review to do a preview of what’s coming is an essential leadership tactic.

Think of a Venn diagram, with the overlapping circles intersecting in the middle, that central area of overlap is the core focus. In the instance of setting direction, consider what is needed (your customer/client needs), what is your superpower (what you are good at), what drives you (what you are passionate about) and the big business kicker $ (how you can make money).

Be bold when setting your vision, direction, strategies, and resource allocation. Think beyond what is needed and focus on what is required in the future.

QUESTION: Why should we exist five years from now?

2. ALIGNING STRATEGIC PRIORITIES WITH BUSINESS GOALS

When taking on any new priority, ensure first it aligns with your overall business goals. This will ensure that you stay on track and focused for the long game. Don’t forget to set performance milestones, these will motivate and keep you accountable. Eliminate activities that do not contribute to core areas of focus.

QUESTION: What strategic priorities are you working on that ARE NOT aligned with your business goals? Why?

3. LEADING TO AN INDIVIDUALS PSYCHOLOGY

Everyone has a different psychology. What they need from a leader and how they receive it can be unique. A good leader makes the time to understand how to best lead each person in their team and get the psychology and mechanics right to help the individual be the best they can be in their position. A leader applauds an individual’s wins, supports them in situations, and provides professional development to help them be more effective in their role.

QUESTION: Do you know how you can best lead each team member?

4. EXECUTING CONSISTENTLY ON THE RIGHT THING

I love this quote:

‘There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.’
~ Peter Drucker

A reminder to constantly be assessing what the right thing is to be focused on and consistent in the execution of action to get it done. Remember the 80/20 rule or Pareto Principle (80% of our outcomes come from 20% of our causes), prioritize high-impact tasks, resulting in greater productivity and results. Look at your entire task list, prioritize based on the impact level each task would have if complete on your work/business goals, focus first on those top 20% of items on your list as they will result in 80% of the impact that you can generate for the day.

QUESTION: What are the top 20% of tasks I need to focus on today?

5. FOCUSING ON CULTURE AND ENGAGEMENT

One of the most challenging things about leading a business team is not the work that needs to be done but… working with the people, navigating personalities and reframing a business culture to be more positive. Motivating and inspiring someone to improve their mindset, work ethic, or ability to work with others takes time and needs to be very intentional.

From a work culture and employee engagement perspective, I encourage you to start by working on one thing. It could be your: hiring process, onboarding, annual performance reviews, processes to address bottlenecks and points of frustration, engagement survey, revised job descriptions or the incorporation of team building activities to look forward to.

There are so many items that you can focus on, pick the lowest hanging fruit that will help you improve culture and engagement and go for it!

QUESTION: How can you inspire your team to do their best work?

6. CONNECTING WITH STAKEHOLDERS

To ensure strong relationships with your stakeholders, you need to start with a foundation of trust.

When was the last time you asked your stakeholders for feedback on any process or improvement recommendations?

Engage and share the goals you are working on, help your stakeholders understand your opportunities and challenges, harvest new ideas, and stay focused on a forward-looking agenda.

QUESTION: What stakeholders should you connect with this week?

7. MANAGING PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS

As a busy professional, one of the most important things to focus on is your time. Take back your calendar, be conscious of every item scheduled one week out and determine if you need to be present in every meeting. Be intentional about what you want to achieve daily, weekly, quarterly and annually.

QUESTION: Can you articulate your professional areas of strength and work style? What changes do you need to make to be more consistent and effective in your role?

 

‘You have to reinvent yourself. The world changes. You have to change.’
~ Roberto Setubal, Chairperson, Itau Unibanco

If you have any questions about leadership and leader’s key responsibilities, or want to learn more on the powerful benefits of executive coaching to elevate your leadership success, please reach out to +1 604-616-1967 or jenny@jennyreilly.com and book a complimentary 30-minute strategy session. If you want monthly leadership tips, sign up for my JRC newsletter or check out my social media on Instagram for top leadership advice throughout the year.

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STRATEGIC FOCUS AND PLANNING

For our businesses to continue to thrive, we must constantly evolve and adapt to changing needs of the market and our clients. Transformation only happens when we focus on it, and at the beginning of every quarter, it is time to take stock of our areas of focus and determine if we need to change or pivot our direction. Be strategic. Consider the impact of technology, talent, and operational changes to help you continue to grow and remain competitive.

Q1 REVIEW

Strategic focus sustains and builds on an organization’s high performance and effectiveness. Set aside time to conduct a Q1 review:

Step 1: List your three biggest wins and accomplishments from Q1.
Step 2: How far did you get on your Q1 goals?
Step 3: In Q1, list what worked and what didn’t that you can learn from.
Step 4: Define what you will keep doing, improve upon, stop doing and start doing due to this review.
Step 4: List your goals for Q2 and who will be accountable for the results by when.

STRATEGIC FOCUS TIMING

Remember it takes time to define your focus, implement and execute the action.

    • 20% planning
    • 40% implementation and change installation effort
    • 40% sustaining high-performance effort on the direction and plan over the long term

NO STRATEGIC PLAN?

If you don’t have a strategic plan, it is time to work on one. There are three core phases to follow:

Phase One – Assess and Organize

    • Environmental scan and organization assessment

Phase two – Strategic Design and Plan

    • Define company positioning
    • Articulate customer focus
    • Clarify competitive strategies and critical success factors

Phase three – Operational Design

    • Plan priorities
    • Strategic budgets
    • Performance management systems
    • HR management strategies

COMPONENTS OF A WRITTEN STRATEGIC PLAN

There are core components of a strategic plan. The points below can be used as a checklist for you in the design of your plan:

    • Introduction – opening defining your ‘why.’ Include your company vision, mission and values
    • Current State Assessment (SWOT: Strengths – to build on, Weaknesses – to eliminate, opportunities and threats))
    • Environmental Scan
    • Marketplace (segments and characteristics) Analysis: key customers, main products and services, the value of segment, market share percentage, industry competitors, the life cycle of product or service
    • Organizational Goals
    • Key Success Factors (KSF) and Action Plan (Areas of concentration, actions to develop target measures and baseline data, who is responsible and due date)
    • Core Strategies and Actions for Each Strategy
    • Major Change Summary (summary of significant changes desired over the life of the strategic plan) and Change Management Structure
    • Priority Actions (key must-do actions in addition to the day-to-day operations and other stats that you can complete in addition)and Implementation Game Plan
    • Annual Plan Format – break this down into a yearly roadmap

TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIC PLANNING

    1. Have the process facilitated
    2. Take an organization-wide approach and integrate all level planning
    3. Define quantifiable measures of success
    4. Include short and long-term forecasting
    5. Use transparent and straightforward terminology and language
    6. Clarify and benchmark against the competition
    7. Define strategic business units
    8. Make informed budget decisions
    9. Make tough decisions when necessary
    10. Be open to pivoting from the initial direction
    11. Implement an effective process to roll out new initiatives
    12. Empower and support staff to take action on strategic initiatives

Acknowledge that the process does not end once a document is produced. It needs to be executed on, implemented, evaluated and measured. Your strategic plan has to be a living document, one that is continually reviewed.

HOW WELL ARE YOU DOING?

On a scale of 1-5 rank (1 being the lowest and 5 the highest), your organization on the following:

    1. A culture of excellence
    2. Accountability of resource
    3. Effective and efficient business processes
    4. Collaboration and teamwork
    5. Communicated long term vision and direction
    6. Constructive problem solving
    7. Continuous process improvements
    8. Data based decisions
    9. Employee empowerment
    10. Equality of opportunities
    11. Facilities and equipment
    12. High staff productivity and performance
    13. Innovation and creativity
    14. Job design and descriptions
    15. Marketplace competitiveness
    16. Performance appraisals
    17. Profitability consciousness
    18. Quality production of products/delivery of services
    19. Resilience level to adaption to change
    20. Resources (monetary and other)
    21. Reward systems
    22. Staffing levels
    23. Team development
    24. Technology
    25. Visionary leadership

STEP ONE: Highlight any score below three
STEP TWO: Brainstorm action that could be implemented on low scoring areas to raise your rank
STEP THREE: Attain buy-in on identified actions, implement and execute

 

Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.

~ Winston Churchill

 

If you would like more information on strategic planning, and you need someone to keep you accountable through this process, I can be contacted at +1-604-616-1967 or jenny@jennyreilly.com. If you want monthly leadership tips, sign up for my JRC newsletter or check out my social media on Instagram for top leadership advice throughout the year.

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2022 VISION – WHERE ARE YOU HEADED?

We are now into our seventh week in Q1, and it is time to refocus your attention on one or more of five key areas, which may require your time and attention:

  1. Your Vision
  2. People
  3. Data
  4. Processes, or
  5. Current Issues

Minor improvements in one or more areas can free up considerable time in your schedule and help you focus on the important rather than wasting time on workarounds. 

In what areas do you need to concentrate in Q1?

    • Is your 2022 team and company vision clearly articulated, communicated, and understood? – vision
    • Have you developed your team to enable them to efficiently handle details so you can focus on the big picture and not get stuck in the weeds? – people
    • Do you have a dashboard of data that you can regularly refer to get a complete picture of actual results? – data
    • Do your systems support your processes? – processes
    • Do you have an issues list that requires attention? – current issues

2022 VISION – WHERE ARE YOU HEADED?

Your team vision must be in line with your organizational vision. Do a temperature check with your team, ask two individuals randomly if they know the vision of the team? ‘Are you seeing what I am saying?’ Don’t assume that everyone sees the vision in the same way you do. Communicate clearly and often on the articulation of your vision. This will ensure team members do not become frustrated and confused. A compelling vision enables everyone to see the direction they are headed and how they will get there. Think of your team’s vision like a laser beam highlighting the path to take. Having a clear vision will enable you to plan action items required and help you retain focus strategically.

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH GREAT PEOPLE

It is imperative to have the right people in the right jobs. Look at your team and evaluate each member’s level of effectiveness in their roles. List accountabilities of each position, how core tasks are organized and by whom and if the structure is conducive to the roles and individuals you have in place. Is movement, training, or are additional or less staff required? 

YOUR PROFESSIONAL DASHBOARD

When driving, you often look down at your dashboard and check your speed and petrol level. Driving a vehicle is like leading a team. How can you lead effectively without knowing the details? Effective leadership requires the ability to have a dashboard or scorecard of data that will enable you to have a pulse on the work being done by your team, help you predict what may be needed and identify when areas are falling short of what is required and the action that is necessary to course correct.

Knowing your data will empower you. Understanding your numbers will help you problem solve and make decisions faster. Determine the core elements that should be highlighted on your dashboard or scorecard. Having this information will help you make decisions based on factual information.

ISSUE MANAGEMENT

All teams and organizations have areas that can be improved upon and issues that need to be addressed.

  • How do you track your issues?
  • Do you have an issue management list or a ticketing system?
  • When do you allocate time to solve identified issues?

The challenge is often that issues are identified but not resolved fast enough, which results in time and resource wastage. Allocate staffing time to solve issues, don’t let them mount if they are taking away from productivity, focus or results. Allocate time in your weekly meetings to discuss priority issues that require action and give your team permission to solve problems and clear off issues.

PROCESS MAPPING

The importance of process mapping cannot be underestimated—the need to know what needs to be done, how and in what order is essential for repetitive and scalable processes. A good process enables simplicity of action, increased efficiency, and scalability. Processes must be documented, shared, continually evaluated, and updated for maximum efficiency. 

CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT IN EXECUTION

Goals are not attained without discipline. A short runway of actionable steps within a quarter or 90-day period will help keep priorities aligned and provide focus on the essential item to be worked on. Just as 90-day plans are recommended, so too are frequent, preferably weekly meetings to ensure priorities are communicated, there is team alignment, and focus is on the most critical priority. 

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Simplify processes, eradicate rules when not necessary, be clear in what needs to be done, by whom, how it will be assessed, recorded and evaluated. Complexity comes with growth; however, if you can focus on using simplified processes, efficient operational systems, and delegation techniques to move work down to lessen bottlenecks, you will be well on your way to a more efficient organization. 

If you would like more information on leadership tactics and tips as you’re going through your 2022 vision, and you need someone to keep you accountable for your process and execution, I can be contacted at +1-604-616-1967 or jenny@jennyreilly.com. If you want monthly leadership tips, sign up for my JRC newsletter or check out my social media on Instagram for top leadership advice throughout the year.

 

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Goal Framework | Eradicate Your Limiting Beliefs and Step Forward into 2022

Eradicate Your Professional Limiting Beliefs

Our experiences and limiting beliefs can colour the lens through which we will view 2022. Do you have any professional limiting beliefs that you need to eradicate to move forward?

Some of the limiting beliefs that I have heard the last month include:

  • “It is not the time to make any changes, the economy is terrible.”
  • “Things aren’t going to get any better until we are all vaccinated (AGAIN!), so best to stay doing what we are doing and not make any change.”
  • “I am no good at x,y,z… that is why I can’t grow and scale my business.”
  • “I don’t have the skillset, nor experience for the position/to get promoted.”

Don’t let your assumptions on what will occur in 2022 hold you back. You can have goals around outcomes that you have control over. What goals do you want to have around your: professional life, relationship, parental, social, financial, health, fitness, and professional development.

Our thoughts around our limiting beliefs directly impact our execution of action and bottom-line results. If you can mentally switch your negative beliefs as you experience them, you will have a better year in 2022. Identify where your limiting belief came from (e.g., past negative experiences, media…) and test the validity. Limiting beliefs are just that, barriers to what we can achieve.

2022 Goals

Step Forward into 2022

If you don’t think you can achieve your goals, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Take action with the following:

Step 1

Write down five limiting beliefs that may stop you from what you want to achieve in 2022.

Step 2

Objectively evaluate each limiting belief and determine if it is empowering, or hurting you from taking the next step forward.

Step 3

Reframe or replace each limiting belief. If it crops up again, then go back to your reframed statements and use these as motivational cues to move forward.

SMARTER

2022 Goal Framework

If you are nearing year-end with a ‘To Do’ list that is so long, you feel exhausted merely looking at it. Or, if you had so many goals this year that you were unable to achieve and are reluctant to set more in 2022, I want to share a goal framework that will simplify the process for you.

Writing your 2022 goals will help you focus your efforts and set out a roadmap of action for the year ahead. Written goals provide you clarity, motivate action, and help you think through the critical steps that will be required to attain achievement.

For 2022 define seven to ten goals (a combination of professional and personal) in your control. These goals will enable you to focus efforts on what is essential. I usually set seven professional and three personal stretch goals annually.

Goals should follow the S.M.A.R.T. or, better still, S.M.A.R.T.E.R. framework. I am sure you have seen the original S.M.A.R.T. acronym that gained great popularity after General Electric adopted this goal-setting technique in their company.

The intent was to ensure all company goals were specific, had measurable criteria whereby progress can be tracked, were attainable, realistic and timely. There have been many reiterations to the S.M.A.R.T. framework, and it has morphed now into the S.M.A.R.T.E.R. goal framework. Of the various versions, the words used for the acronym differ, so I have listed the most common words referenced to the right to provide you with an overview of other additions, and you can simply choose the words that resonate with you.

S – Specific

M – Measurable or Meaningful

A – Attainable, Acceptable, Achievable or Actionable

R – Realistic, Relevant or Risky

T – Timely, Timebound, Time Keyed or Time Frame

E – Exciting or Extending

R – Reviewed, Recorded or Relevant

Your professional goals should be based on your job description, or if you are an Owner or C.E.O., the functional areas of your business that are falling short whereby you know you need to focus.

For example, business functional areas:

Marketing, R&D/Innovation, Sales, Operational, Financial, Information Technology, Human Resources, Talent Development, Personal Professional Development or Customer Focus.

After you have identified 7-10 professional and personal goals to focus on in 2022, map out in what quarter you will complete the required activities. Schedule consistent and relentless action daily towards your goal achievement. Having a plan will help you remain motivated, do better, and be a better individual.

Execution is Key

Execution is Key

Getting started is often the hardest step. To decrease the potential of procrastination, write down the first five steps required under each goal that will provide you with an excellent strategy to move forward. When you are writing down the activities under each goal, if you get stuck, simply think, ‘what would the next best step be towards completion.’

After defining the next best steps under each goal, the next challenge is how you can keep momentum through to goal attainment. For each goal, identify your top three motivators or reasons for achieving the goal. This will help you stay motivated through to completion. Remember, any action you make is better than making none at all.

 

If you are interested in learning about how professional development or executive coaching can help support your leadership or your leadership team, please reach out to askme@jennyreilly.com to schedule a convenient time for a complimentary strategy session.

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