Goal Articulation Strategies

Before becoming an Executive, I was an INVISIBLE contributor for the first 10 years of my career. (you probably are too) I was: Dreaming of recognition but → keeping my head down and hoping someone would notice Dreaming of promotions but → waiting for my turn instead of advocating for myself Dreaming of leadership roles but → staying quiet in meetings to avoid rocking the boat Dreaming of making an impact but → underselling my achievements to appear humble Turning point? I got snubbed for promotions not once, not twice but THREE times. Staying quiet was getting me a first-class seat at my DESK. After the third snub, I realized: I can't stay quiet and expect someone to notice me. I will always care more about my career than anyone else. I can't expect someone to articulate our value for me. I worked on: Actively sharing my accomplishments: "Our team's productivity increased 30% last quarter due to the new process I implemented." Clearly communicating my career goals: "I expressed my interest in leading the upcoming project to my manager, highlighting my relevant skills." Volunteering for high-visibility projects: "I took charge of presenting our department's quarterly results to the executive team." Quantifying and presenting my contributions: "I created a dashboard showing how my initiatives saved the company $500K annually." I eventually became an executive once I put these into practice. You don't need to change jobs every time you hit a roadblock. Or throw money at the problem with another degree or certificate. Learning to articulate your value can make all the difference. To master value articulation: Keep a detailed record of your achievements Align your work with company objectives and highlight this connection Practice describing your impact in concise, compelling ways Seek opportunities to present your work to leadership Regularly update your manager on your progress and aspirations Remember: "Your work speaks for itself, but only if you give it a voice." #aLITTLEadvice

Falling short on your goals? The solution is simple. Get out of your own head: Setting clear goals establishes accountability, enhancing the likelihood of success. Taking the extra step to record your goals moves them from abstract to concrete. Why is this important? In a single day, the brain registers hundreds of thousands of bits of information. Its job is to siphon what's important and actively forget the rest. Failure to regularly check in on your goals can lead to collective amnesia regarding a goal’s original intent. Easier said than done. Here’s why… ❶ Goals overload ❌ Overloading yourself with numerous goals can lead to overwhelm and decreased focus. ❷ Lack of specificity ❌ Vague goals are challenging because they aren’t easily understood or quantifiable. ❸ No reflection ❌ Without regular reflection, you may lose sight or fail to adjust goals as circumstances change. BUT, writing down your goals forces you to "remind" your brain that they're important. The more specific, the better. Helpful strategies to get your goals out of your own head: 📍Prioritize goals, focusing on a manageable number. 📍Articulate your goals with precision, detailing what and how you aim to achieve. 📍Set aside time to assess progress, celebrate wins, and adjust as needed. So, whether you are the pen-and-paper type or prefer a digital record, writing down your goals will enhance your chances of success. What is your goal-achieving strategy? 👇Please share below

The 12 (Logic) Trees of Christmas 🎄: The Lean Value Tree The 8th tree (https://lnkd.in/eCUaQQ_t), is the Lean Value Tree (LVT). LVT is a strategic planning tool that helps organisation's align operational execution with strategy and vision. It can be easily updated as and when plans change and adapt to changes in context, more experience, and data. It was introduced by Jim Highsmith, Linda Hite-Lulue, CPA and David Robinson in their book EDGE: Value-Driven Digital Transformation https://amzn.to/3Zz5TrQ. This is the structure of the LVT: 1. Vision: At the top of the tree we have the organisations vision or aspiration. This guides the direction of all effort. 2. Goals: The goals explicitly define how we intend to realise the Vision and deliver on the aspiration. Think of these goals as long standing strategic objectives. 3. Bets: We may not always be certain of how to achieve the goals, so we use the term bet to make it explicit that our idea of how to reach the goal is a hypothesis and may not work (i.e., we may lose the bet). I like to think of this as the tactical layer, the glue between strategic goals and operational initiatives. 4. Initiatives: Initiatives define what should be done. Think of these as the operational actions or experiments. The portfolio of investments in products, programs and projects to test the bet hypothesis. Just as with issues trees, there can be more than three levels. Goals can have sub goals, bets sub bets, and initiatives can be broken down in programs of work with projects and tasks. There are also many ways of articulating the various levels of work in the LVT. The lexicon of Goals/Bets/Initiatives is just one example. You should always use terminology that works for your context. The important point is not what you name the concepts but instead what they stand for. The utilisation of the LVT gives a clear and simple view of strategic intent cascading down to operational execution. The alignment of goals, bets, and initiatives are made transparent, ensuring everyone understands what they are doing and how it contributes to business success. The value of the LVT comes from its ability to keep focus on what’s important to fulfil the vision and the purpose of a system, ensuring that any initiative that is not directly tied to a bet, or a bet to a goal is robustly challenged. This is the tangible way that we can close the gap between strategic objectives laid out by leaders and the decisions made by people at the gemba, where the real work happens. This is how we link the day-to-day work to the mission and vision of an organization. Having problems finding a gift for the person that has everything? Check out my new book “The Accidental CIO: A lean and agile book for IT leaders”. 🎅 Amazon UK - https://amzn.to/48J7T3i Amazon US - https://lnkd.in/eYEW6R2n Now on audible!