Goal Setting

HOW PEOPLE DETERMINE VALUE

Value changes throughout your life, related to events such as marriage, birth of a child or being fired. A personal philosophy is the way he determines values and which leadership style he gravitates towards. A leader who values achieving goal above all else will naturally be a pacesetter viewing a more democratic style as a waste of time.

GOAL SETTING: A NEW PERSPECTIVE

Goals should be built on one’s strength not on ones weakness.

Goals must be the person’s own, not goals that some one else had imposed.

Plan should flexibly allow people to prepare for the future in different ways; a single planning method imposed by an organization will often prove counter productive.

Plan must be feasible with manageable steps. Plans that don’t fit smoothly into a person’s life and work likely to be dropped with in no time.

Plans that don’t suit a person’s learning style will prove demotivating & quickly lose his attention.

TO IMPROVE ABILITY AS A SPEAKER

To improve ability as speakers, set following concrete goals for themselves.

Give at least two formal presentations every month and have them critiqued by a peer one respect.

Practice with a friend before giving a presentation.

Videotape yourself giving a speech and critique it with your superiors.

Join toastmasters so you can practice giving more effective talks.

Talk to people who give oral presentations in a manner that comes across as relaxed and interesting and find out what they do to prepare. How they overcome stage fright and relax during presentation.

PEOPLE LEARN MOST THROUGH ONE OF THE FOLLOWING MODES

Concrete Experience: Experience that allows them to see & feel what it is like.

Reflection: Thinking about their own and others experiences.

Model Building: Coming up with a theory that makes sense of what they observe.

Trial & Error Learning: Trying something out by actively experimenting with a new approach.

Learning often happens best by applying some if these combinations of two or three of above mentioned modes.

FOUR STEPS WHEN YOU START TO FEEL UPSET

Step back – listen, don’t jump in.

Let the other person speak.

Get some objectivity, ask yourself, is there a sound reason for my reaction or I am jumping into conclusions?

Ask clarifying questions rather than ones that sound judgmental or hostile.

NEW MODE OF LEARNING

Lesson people get in leadership start very early in life from observing parents teachers coaches clergy anyone who has been in the role of a leader in lives.

Then they step in their first leadership roles in clubs team’s, student unions and organizations or as leaders in their peer groups. They put those models in practice.

In their jobs they encounter new leaders and new leadership behaviors and add to their experience.

So far the leadership traits arise naturally in the course of life determining what a person will automatically tend to do in similar situations throughout life. This is called Habit Implicit learning.

Net result people end up with a mixed bag of leadership skills akin to having mastered a few golf strokes but being a terrible pitter.

The only way to improve now is by doing three things. Bring bad habits into awareness, consciously practicing a better way and by rehearsing that new behavior at every opportunity until it becomes automatic.

To master a new skill they need repetition and practice. That’s why leadership abilities cannot be learnt in class room. A teacher can’t instruct your brain to relearn new habits. What is needed is practice.

ALL PERFORMANCE, NO PRACTICE

Experimentation with more positive alternative is crucial. The new way of thinking feeling or acing feels unnatural at first, like putting some one else’s cloth.

Great athlete spend a lot of time practicing and a little time performing while executives spends no time practicing and all of their time performing.

The key to learning new habits lies in practice to the point of mastery. Otherwise they invite a relapse a return of old habits.

First focus a bit more on overcoming the impulsive leadership habits you are trying to undo before giving full attention to the new habits.

STEALTH LEARNING

Takes place in seminars, over a week of offsite training.

First become a better listener at home with friends.

The trick is to learn while doing other things stealth learning can be useful for improving emotional intelligence abilities & leadership skills.

POWER OF MENTAL REHEARSAL

Leadership success depends upon your ability to clearly picture yourself achieving your ideal state and than maintaining that focus. The visualization has another advantage. Brain remembers, motivates by carrying an image of our success.