3 Steps to Set Yourself Up For Success

Two of the most common blockers that pop up during coaching sessions are (a) feeling overwhelmed and (b) as if you’re “failing”.

Have you ever felt either of those too?

All too often, this boils down to not having a clear definition of what ‘success’ looks like to you in the first place.

Without that clear bar to aim for, there’s always going to be “more to do” or “more stuff to tweak” or “more people to please”.

Take Joanne. She is an intelligent woman. She’s highly capable and works for one of the big 5 banks here in Australia. She’s been working on a massive project for the last 3 months, with multiple stakeholders to engage and the goalposts keep changing. The idea of actually being able to deliver this project fluctuates daily for Joanne and she has some concerns about whether she’s even doing a good job.

When we start talking, Joanne is definitely feeling overwhelmed. And she is starting to doubt her capability to be a success.

So we do two things.

First, we have a chat about what a “successful outcome” actually looks like for Joanne. We talk about the impact this project is having on her credibility and her chances of influencing future projects. We also talk about the fact that ‘change’ is inevitable.

She begins to define what “success” actually is. She comes to the conclusion that “success” is demonstrating her adaptable leadership style and focusing on immediate deliverables – rather than being overwhelmed by the longer term goals of the project.

Can you see that by coming to this realisation, she suddenly makes this tricky situation work for her, rather than against her?

Secondly we talk about how Joanne can actually set herself up for success.

(I often find that middle and senior managers (and oftentimes women) don’t ask for the resources and budgets they need to do their jobs effectively).

This brainstorm throws up so many ideas for Joanne and suddenly she realises she could achieve success more easily with added resource.

Can you imagine how much time and energy Joanne will save by getting extra resource onboard so that she can delegate and really plan effectively?

Joanne’s last step is to decide on two actions she wants to take from that conversation.

Here’s what she chose to do:

Reframe how I see success – this project is a massive opportunity to demonstrate adaptable leadership (which I know is a skill highly regarded by my boss)

2. Set out the resources I need and their potential positive impact on key deliverables. Request this extra resource from my boss on Thursday 10am at our scheduled meeting.

Joanne went from feeling overwhelmed and unresourceful to feeling clear, confident and energised. Simple questions can lead to profound shifts in energy and resourcefulness!

Hopefully you see how you could challenge yourself to be more effective too?

Rebecca Allen, COI of Illuminate Personal Growth, works with professional women to help them take their careers to the next level. If you are feeling underwhelmed by your lack of career progress, looking for support and encouragement and keen to learn new skills to improve your prospects, then you’re in the right place. We provide online career courses, courses for women, live workshops and leadership trainings in Sydney as well as 1-1 executive coaching. Get in touch!

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