Writing this blog provides me with a much-needed time-out from the lingering torture of watching England’s dismal performances against the US and Algeria in the soccer World Cup. However, their failure to deliver the goods under pressure was surpassed on Sunday at Pebble Beach when American golfer, Dustin Johnson, leading the US Open by three shots going into the final round, self-destructed in front of our very eyes. I must remember to send the England soccer team and Johnson a copy of my latest book!
I described in my blog posted on May 24th how I had been doing one-to-one coaching with lawyers. These people are the leaders of the Group Legal and Secretariat in a large bank. Last week, I and Dr Tara Jones ran a one-day program for these leaders on how they can better coach their own people. The transactional world in which these lawyers work means that coaching is not typically at the forefront of their minds, but they were quickly able to grasp how it would help them and their people in their day-to-day operation.
‘Effective goal setting’ was of particular interest to them as Tara and I explained the process of setting goals that satisfy both the organization’s and individual’s needs. Too often, goals are set with only the organization’s needs in mind, and then we wonder why people aren’t motivated by them! The goal setting process must ensure that both the organization’s and individuals’ needs are satisfied and that the goals are clearly aligned.
An ‘eye-opener’ for them was that goals are not just part of a performance management process that are reviewed once or twice a year. When set effectively, goals provide not just a longer-term aspiration, but also a daily focus to keep people on track.
Talking of setting goals, I want to take you back to another of my blogs which I posted on April 26th. I told you about Greg Searle, a colleague of mine at Lane4 who has just come out of retirement at the age of 38 with the amazing goal of competing for the Great Britain rowing team in the 2012 London Olympics.
I’m delighted to inform you that Greg has successfully negotiated the first hurdle in his quest. Last month, Greg was part of the GB eight who won Gold in the first of the World Cup series in Slovenia. For more information click on this link.
Oh well, back to the agony that goes with rooting for the England soccer team …..
