Own Your Day Page 3

  Values Determine Priorities

  Attempting to identify your priorities in life before isolating your core values is a waste of time if you’re hoping to take back your day and make your vision a reality. Such an exercise would be akin to playing checkers blindfolded. You could move things around, but you’d never know if you were moving the right pieces to the right place. Eleven of my core values are integrity, adventure, contributing, connection, transparency, authenticity, creativity, love, family, friends, and making an impact. Those core values have shaped my priorities, and consequently my life, in dramatic ways. My top three values are what get me out of bed every day:

  Connection

  Creativity

  Contribution

  Every day revolves around these three values in some way. Every goal I set or decision I make is with these three values in mind. When I focus on these three values, I’m then able to identify the priorities related to them. My core value of connection results in my family, wife, and children being at the top of my priority list. My core value of creativity results in the writing I do and the books I publish. And my core value of contribution inspires me to continually make an impact through coaching and training, which surface as other top priorities in my life. I need to ensure that these people, projects, and activities end up becoming a part of my lifestyle or my daily routine so that I’m able to honor those values completely and consistently. You will be able to do the same once you identify your values.

  Go Do: Write Down Your Priorities

  Now that you have outlined your core values, there is one more step before we move on to mapping out your goals—you need to determine the priorities in your life that you’re not willing to sacrifice. This way, you can identify the activities you need to engage in and what you are willing to give up today (maybe even a conscious, short-term sacrifice of certain priorities) in pursuit of a bigger dream tomorrow.

  When your goals are aligned with your priorities and natural strengths, you’ll maintain your integrity and energy and experience greater peace of mind while traveling on your path to achieving meaningful, long-lasting results. You’ll find the process of working toward these goals more enjoyable and fulfilling, without feeling as if you’re continually pushing for something to happen. Instead, because of this natural alignment, you’ll be pulled toward your goal with less effort.

  Once you orient your life around your priorities, you’ll find that you will actually have fewer goals you’ll feel compelled to attain or be driven and consumed by. If you design your life and career around what is most important to you on a daily basis, you’ll avoid becoming attached to always trying to create something better at a future point in time, which can rob you of the quality of your life today.

  Based on your core values, what are your top priorities? Some examples include family, fitness, travel, sports, music, and professional development. Here is a list of questions to assess whether or not what you are focusing on is a priority, a nonpriority, or a distraction. Managers can use these questions to coach people around identifying their own priorities:

  Why is this a priority? Why is this important?

  Is this aligned with my goals and values, or is it a “should?” (As I wrote about in Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions, a “should” is either an old goal—something that’s not aligned with your values, vision, or priorities—or the excrement of someone else’s agenda that you feel you “should” take on!)

  Is this my priority or someone else’s?

  If this is someone else’s priority, did I do a good job coaching up to my boss or setting proper expectations regarding what I can deliver on and by when?

  If I don’t focus on and complete this now, how will this impact me and those around me? What will happen?

  If I do focus on and complete this, what are the benefits and impact on those around me?

  If I take on this task or project, what are the things that won’t be getting done as a result of reallocating my time?

  Who is relying on me to do this?

  Did I create an appropriate timeline to begin and complete this task?

  Is there someone else I can effectively delegate this to?

  [PART ONE]

  CHAPTER 4

  Define Your Specific and Measurable Goals

  Playing by Your Own Rules

  It’s time to create your goals! Soon I will be asking you what goals you want most for yourself, your company, and your team over the next twelve months.

  Why twelve months? Because goals with shorter timelines tend to lack the significance and weight of yearlong goals. Conversely, when people I coach insist on setting goals with completion dates beyond twelve months, they often lose momentum along the way. Fortunately, because change is the only constant (the economy, marketplace, competition, people, etc.), anything beyond twelve months can easily be rolled up into your vision.

  When you set the right goals, you will likely feel excited, a little nervous, and ready to get them started. Generally, there are three categories your goals will fall into:

  Mind-set (e.g., happiness, peace of mind, being intentional, career fulfillment, stronger relationships, being stress/worry free, being/living in the present, personal satisfaction, harmony)

  Measurable (e.g., help salespeople double their bonuses, exceed sales quota of X, improve forecast accuracy by 30 percent, hire five new salespeople, identify and implement a new selling strategy, make an income of X by this date, achieve a quarterly sales goal, buy a new house by this date)

  Skill (further development and mastery of communication, selling, leadership, coaching, and time-management skills; spending more time leveraging analytics, metrics, and scorecards; negotiation; life balance; self-care)

  Beware of Shoulds

  Now that you have created a vision for yourself and identified your values and priorities, it’s time to create the goals you really want—not the ones you should, could, or might want.

  The best game to play is the one where you make up your own rules. Often, we create goals based heavily on what we feel we should do. Shoulds tend to be formed from what we were taught growing up or from the constant bombardment of advertisements telling us how we should look, buy, do, and feel or how we should structure our lives.

  Think of the things you really, really want to create for yourself as opposed to something you feel you have to or should be doing. If you’re encountering resistance in reaching some of your goals, chances are it’s either something you really don’t want to be doing, it’s an old goal that may not serve you anymore, or you’re operating from someone else’s agenda!

  You are a distinctly unique individual with your very own set of characteristics, values, strengths, and weaknesses. When trying to maintain motivation to achieve goals that are based on other people’s expectations, you’re always going to encounter resistance. Ironically, this resistance against achieving your goals will primarily come from yourself because they’re not your goals. They don’t represent your vision or your true identity.

  Now imagine a different scenario in which your goals are in precise alignment with your distinctive priorities, values, and individuality, and all of them are in unwavering alignment with your vision of what you absolutely want most in life.

  This is when things really start getting exciting!

  Priorities vs. Goals—What’s the Difference?

  Make sure you understand the distinct difference between goals and priorities. When you align your goals with your priorities, you’ll achieve the level of success you’ve always dreamed of.

  With the time pressure we place on ourselves when charting our goals, many people often fall short of attaining their goals. Sure, there are many reasons why we may not reach our goals, but before we point our finger or leverage excuses, such as lack of execution, resources, skills, or effective time management, we need to first look at the source of the problem—that is, the goal itself. In other words, are you sure you’re setting the right go
als?

  Here is the differentiation between priorities and goals:

  Priority—What is so important and meaningful in your life today (activities, beliefs, lifestyle, principles, standards, hobbies, integrity) that you are not willing to compromise or sacrifice in pursuit of something else (such as a goal)

  Goal—A future-based expectation, possibility, measurable end-result, or experience you are working toward creating, achieving or bringing to fruition that has not yet been realized

  Priorities are present focused, or what is happening. Goals are future focused, or what will happen.

  Case Study: John’s Misaligned Priorities and Goals

  John had a goal of being a top producer in his company. As such, he looked at the other top producers and the activities they engaged in that made them successful. The top salespeople were working twelve-hour days, sometimes even seven days a week. Thinking, “It worked for them, so I guess I should do that too,” he decided to give up a chunk of his family/personal time and other enjoyable activities/hobbies in his quest to become financially successful.

  Although John’s priority was spending time with his family, he didn’t understand why he felt miserable and encountered resistance while attempting to achieve this goal.

  Once he created a personal strategy and a routine for achieving his own bigger goals that supported his lifestyle and priorities without having to sacrifice what mattered most to him, he was able to reach his goals with less effort and enjoyed the process even more.

  If you are encountering resistance while attempting to reach certain goals or performing certain tasks, chances are, it’s something you really don’t want to be doing, it’s an old goal that may not serve you anymore (a “should”), or you are operating from someone else’s agenda (also a “should”)! The bottom line is, these goals don’t support your priorities, and you’ll continue to feel “off” or out of alignment throughout your pursuit of these misaligned goals.

  Take the time to align your goals with your priorities. Otherwise, you’ll feel confined or powerless to make changes and will allow situations, circumstances, or other people to influence or control you. Discover what you truly want by aligning your goals with the priorities in your life rather than the shoulds.

  The fact is, should-based goals do not support your priorities or personal vision. So if you are unsure whether the goal, activity, or task classifies as a should, take a look at your lifestyle, values, and priorities and see if they are all in alignment. If the goal doesn’t support them, it’s a should. Don’t should on yourself!

  Goals Must Be Specific, Measurable and Have a Deadline

  My friend, Eric, recently asked if I could review a year-end document of his that included details of his upcoming goals for the New Year. At first, I was surprised to find that my friend—a smart, educated, and experienced guy—didn’t know how to set an effective goal. But the fact was, like most people, regardless of experience or position, he had never been shown how to do so in the most effective way.

  What is your gauge for success? While your goals need to be congruent with your vision, each one must be specific, measurable, and have a deadline. For example, it’s not enough to say, “I want to sell more. I want to be happier. I want to make more money. I want to find a great job. I want to develop a loving and supportive relationship.” Clarify what success looks like, and write it down.

  An example of a specific and measurable goal would look like this: “I want to generate one million dollars in new sales of this product at a profit margin of X percent by 12/31/XX.”

  Go Do: Set Twelve-Month Goals

  Create an appointment with yourself to spend some time thinking about what you want. Write down your personal and professional goals. Follow the guidelines in this chapter to ensure that your goals are in alignment with your priorities and are specific, measurable, and have a deadline.

  [PART ONE]

  CHAPTER 5

  Create Your Strategy to Attain Goals

  Strategy and Action Steps

  When I enter a destination into my car’s navigation system, it provides me several views to choose from. One view shows a simple line from my starting point to my destination. Think of this concept as you visualize achieving your goals. However, the line marking the path from start to finish for you will be the overarching strategies and activities you’ll need to build into your daily routine while keeping them in alignment with your goals.

  What steps will you need to chart out to reach your goal’s destination? Consider your sales process. Let’s define a closed sale as being your goal—your destination. You likely already have a clear understanding of what steps you and your people need to take with each prospect to close a sale. Your own personal and professional goals are no different. The strategies you create to achieve your goals work the same way as your sales process does in helping you achieve new sales.

  Your strategy is the how in the equation—a subset of your goals. How do you plan to move forward toward attaining your goals? (Steps might be to improve the onboarding process for new salespeople; increase one-on-one observation time with your team; develop sales-coaching skills; redefine your sales strategy; expand prospecting and new-business development efforts, to include trade shows, speaking engagements, and cold calling.)

  And don’t forget about your personal goals! For example, do you want to lose weight, learn to play the guitar, or go on a vacation to Hawaii with your family? As with your professional goals, make sure your strategies are specific and measurable.

  Your Activities

  Align Your Actions with Your Intentions

  Action items are a subset of your strategies. After successfully identifying which strategies will best serve you in achieving your goals, break them down even further into discreet and actionable action items you can build into your calendar, blocking out distinct periods of time for each activity. Learning how, when, and where to focus on activities can be trickier than you might imagine. Many people spend time thinking about how they need to generate greater results, such as increasing their sales volume. The question is, are they spending more time worrying about things than actually doing something about it? You can see what they are doing because it’s reflected in their calendars!

  A client was complaining how slow his business has become recently. I asked him, “On a scale of one to ten, where ten means you’re putting in your full effort to build your business and one means you’re not engaging in daily activities that generate new business, where do you stand?”

  He responded, “I’m probably a four.”

  I then asked, “How much time are you devoting to sales and revenue-generating activities?”

  “Two hours per week.”

  The next time you feel frustrated because results aren’t showing up fast enough, consider that your actions may not be aligned with your intentions. And the best way to ensure alignment is by following the following goal-setting steps.

  Goal-Setting Steps

  The steps are simple, yet people still struggle with implementing them effectively. To help illustrate the process, let’s work through a scenario using a goal all sales managers are familiar with: a quarterly sales quota. Your team size, goal/target, industry, product or service, past performance, and dozens of other variables and key performance indicators will make this example different than your own, but if you’re in sales, this example will still make sense.

  The specific quarterly goal is selling one hundred units (keep in mind, the manager already went through the steps of articulating their vision and translating it into more specific values and priorities). Here is how they broke down their goal into strategies and action steps:

  GOAL:

  Quarterly quota: one hundred units

  STRATEGY:

  Hire five new salespeople.

  Identify key prospects and targeted accounts.

  Increase face time with clients.

  Leverage technology to align with sales and coachin
g/training processes.

  Create a healthy coaching and observation cadence.

  Increase upselling and cross-selling opportunities.

  ACTION STEPS: (For hiring five new salespeople)

  Obtain approval from upper management.

  Determine whether to hire all five at once or stagger hiring throughout the year.

  Review/refresh the new-hire onboarding and training process.

  Review/refresh the salesperson job description.

  Create the job posting.

  Conduct follow-up calls and e-mails.

  Conduct preliminary candidate screenings. (Create a list of all distinct classes of interviewing questions, meeting agenda, expectations, etc.)

  Conduct phone interviews. (Develop scripting if needed to ensure consistency.)

  Hold first round of in-person interviews.

  Hold subsequent rounds of in-person interviews.

  Integrate experiential simulations to assess candidates’ full competencies, including presentation skills and verbal as well as written communication skills.

  Conduct “ridealongs” with a manager or existing rep (if applicable).

  Finalize background checks, prior job history, and referrals.

  Make job offers and negotiate contracts.

  Conduct new-hire onboarding and training.

  FREQUENCY and ROUTINE: (After determining the specific action steps required to implement each listed strategy of your goal successfully, schedule the tasks in your calendar and build out your routine—something we’ll discuss at length in the next chapter.)