What if…you knew what you wanted to Be, Do – and Have?
As an executive coach I challenge you as an existing or as an up and coming MD or CEO to tell me if you know exactly what you want from your business and personal life.
Fast forward 3-5 years and see, feel and hear what you want to BE by firstly filling in the personal section on the chart below. The best leadership coaching experts dig deep and ask the following questions:
- Will you BE a great partner, parent, grandparent, friend, club/ society president PTA member, local councillor? Picture the wealth of opportunities.
- What will you DO? Travel, community work, study a new subject, coach young sports people, play the world’s top ten golf courses in the world, cycle across America? (that’s what I’ll be doing in 2012!)
- What special things will you HAVE? An exotic holiday hideaway, a boat, those special ‘wheels’? (Mine’s a lakeside cabin to host and entertain friends).
Let’s move to your business goals and remember that most CEOs remain in that role for less than 4 years. With my corporate coaching hat on, I ask:
- Will you still BE a CEO/MD in 2013? If not, will you be chairman, president?
- Before answering what you will DO, reflect on how your role has changed since 2005. So what will you DO, for example, if you worked a 30 hour week? (Would you take on external directorships?)
- What will you HAVE? I don’t mean the toys that surround you. This is about who and what you will have around you to enable you to BE and DO what you want.
My Goals for ……………….. Dated………………..
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Business
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Personal
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Be
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Be
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| Do
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Do
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| Have
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Have |
- So what does this tell you?
- Which was easier bit to fill in – the personal and or business – and why?
- What is the theme running through it?
- How does it compare with your current position?
- What needs to change significantly?
- What are the two big things that you can change that will move you significantly towards where you want to be.
- Have you thought about asking your partner or significant other to complete this exercise? What about your key people. As Stephen Covey says “first understand and then be understood”.
