“If you
don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.”—Lewis Carroll
Each of us
becomes confused from time to time. The
availability to the GPS system has certainly made finding our destination
easier, but you have to select and input the correct address to get the right
directions. Defining a clear, specific,
and correct goal is mandatory in coaching as well.
In Co-Active
Coaching, the authors write, "Without a specific goal, there can be
endless drifting, a floating on the winds of this good idea and then that one.
Goal setting gives clients a specific direction and an action plan for making
something real. Naturally, the goals may shift over time as clients make
progress, but movement in the first place starts with setting their sights on a
goal or outcome."(p. 91)
Long-term
goals are life-changing. They bring changes
in vocation, lifestyle, or ministry that represents a significant journey in
one’s life. Intermediate or short-term
goals are the individual steps of that journey.
There are
many intermediate goals that have to be achieved in order for a person to achieve
their personal vision of what they want to be or become. A person may generate a number of worthy
goals that will get them to where they want to be, but a person can really only
focus on one at a time and do it well.
We base
this decision about intermediate goals on a number of considerations.
First, is
this the most important goal for me to address at this point? Given where I am right now in life and both
the challenges and the opportunities before me, is this the one thing that will
make the most difference?
Second,
does this plan of action have the most promise for success? If I am working with a coaching client who
has had only limited success in achieving her or his goals, I might agree that
an easily attainable goal is worth pursuing.
Sometimes a person needs to reach the “low hanging fruit” to build their
self-concept and motivation. More often,
I challenge the client to set stretch goals that will move the person out of
their comfort zone.
Third, is
this an appropriate step toward my long-term goal for myself? If a person has a clear vision for their “ideal
self” or preferred future, will this short-term goal be a first step in the
direction of what they want to be or is it a detour?
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