The Role of Goal Setting For coaching or mentoring to be effective, those involved must have an ultimate goal toward which they are w
Respond to at least two of your peers’ postings in one or more of the following ways: "See attachment for details"
- APA citing
- No plagiarism
Week 5: The Role of Goal Setting
For coaching or mentoring to be effective, those involved must have an ultimate goal toward which they are working. Without such goals, it is difficult to measure progress. Perhaps the goal is to improve a personal skill or move upwards in an organization. This goal setting provides the focus around which coaching and mentoring can occur.
Pursuing goals often requires change, which can be challenging for many. For this reason, it is important to involve a coachee in the goal-setting process. It is also important that the goal is specific and measurable so the coachee has a focus. Progress toward goals should be reviewed and evaluated on a regular basis, and changes should made if and when necessary.
When developing goals, it is important to think about short-term and long-term growth. Goals should be challenging but not unattainable. Assessment models are designed to support the change process and can help in the development of goals. Consider how these assessment models could be used to develop goals that will facilitate the change process.
To prepare for this Discussion, review this week’s Learning Resource.
· Review this week’s Learning Resources, especially:
· Performance Goals for Employees: 8 SMART Examples – Officevibe
· 44 Examples of Performance Goals – Simplicable
· The GROW Model of Coaching and Mentoring – Skills From MindTools.com
Respond to at least two of your peers’ postings in one or more of the following ways:
· Based on how your colleague described performance goals and end goals, provide an example of each.
· Considering your colleague’s discussion of assessment models, what measures could be used to gauge success?
· 3-4 paragraphs
· APA citing
· No plagiarism
1st Colleague – Natasha Mills
Natasha Mills
The Role of Goal Setting
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The whole idea of coaching is anchored on the achievement of a specific goal. Coaching managers, as well as the coachees, only know that the resources they invested in the coaching process were not wasted when goals are achieved. The realization of the overall goal needs the setting of performance goals in-between the coaching process. Hunt & Weintraub (2017) cite several reasons for the setting of these performance goals.
For instance, performance goals provide room for follow through, which assesses how much the coachee has learned in order for the coach to make adjustments or introduce new things to learn. This process is almost impossible in the absence of performance and end goals. “In the absence of some type of goal, or marker, it will be hard to assess progress for the coaching manager or the coachee” (Hunt & Weintraub, 2017, p.206). The follow through, in turn, shows the coachee that the coaching manager cares by keeping an eye on what the coachee is doing.
Managers ought to deeply understand the roles of performance goals and end goals in coaching. This deep understanding will help them adopt best practices when coaching, leading to positive outcomes and a return on investment. Hunt & Weintraub (2017) state that some managers often express skepticism when it comes to setting performance goals and implementing follow through processes. Their skepticism can be attributed to the notion that by doing that, they are micromanaging the coachees. Micromanaging is a term that has a negative connotation and linked to ineffectiveness. As a result, the managers tend to adopt the practice of attaching the development planning form to the performance appraisal form.
The approach can be counterproductive because it mostly leads employees to identify development goals that correspond with what the managers want while ignoring their own goals. Therefore, there needs to be mutually agreed-upon goals that will improve the commitment of the coachee, as well as those of the coach, fostering the occurrence of change. “A clear statement of mutually agreed-upon and clearly specified goals is more likely to result in the attainment of those goals than a less precise or more implicit goal-setting process” (Hunt & Weintraub, 2017, p.210). It is critical to ensure that the set performance and end goals of the coaching process are specific, time-bound, challenging, aligned with business goals, developed mutually, and few in number. Hunt & Weintraub (2017) provide these as the characteristics of the most effective goals that support the change process.
Coaching managers have at their disposal various assessment models that they can use to evaluate the coaching process and facilitate the desired change. Flaherty (2010) proposes three major assessment models, including the five elements model, the domains of competence model, and the components of satisfaction and effectiveness model. The author argues that a coaching manager’s decision to use any of the assessment models should be dependent on the ability of the model to bring meaning to the observation the coach makes of the employee’s actions. This is because the coach is not concerned with the role of revealing the truth. Rather, the coach is concerned with building competence in the coachee (Flaherty, 2010).
The five elements model, for instance, has five areas of observation. The areas are immediate concerns, commitments, future possibilities, personal and cultural history, and mood. These areas are crucial to determining the borderline between the coach and the coachee (Flaherty, 2010). The second model, which is domains of competence, presents a pyramid with three major domains. At the bottom of the pyramid is self-management, followed by relationships with others, and finally facts and events. Flaherty (2010) claims that a different kind of thinking is needed for the different kinds of domains. Lastly, the components of satisfaction and effectiveness is the simplest (Flaherty, 2010). It includes elements of intellect, context, will, emotion, and soul, all of which are the necessary competencies for effectiveness and satisfaction of the coaching process. A coaching manager may choose any of these assessment models to facilitate the change process depending on set goals because each model will direct the coach to different behaviors to observe.
Flaherty, J. (2010). Coaching: Evoking excellence in others (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
Hunt, J. M., & Weintraub, J. R. (2017). The coaching manager: Developing top talent in business (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
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2nd Colleague – Donna Tizzano
Donna Tizzano
RE: Discussion – Week 5 Tizzano Initial Reply
Hello Class,
Providing positive and constructive feedback is not enough to assist the coachee in changing behaviors and developing the skills and competencies needed to facilitate sustained change. Both formal and informal follow-through is essential for the coachee to achieve personal development (Hunt and Weintraub, 2017). Ongoing follow-through provides the coachee with learning opportunities through the coaching process and demonstrates the ongoing support of the coach (Hunt & Weintraub, 2017). Follow through begins with the coach and coachee collaboratively setting goals so progress can be measured and observed by both the coach and coaches.
When clear, quantitative goals are established, and employees are held accountable to attain these goals, the development of the employee is promoted, but it is critical that the coachee is engaged in creating these goals if there is hope for the change process to be successful and sustained and goals achieved (Hunt & Weintraub, 2017).
As previously stated, goals must be mutually agreed upon and very precise. As a coach and coachee begin to develop these goals, Hunt and Weintraub (2017) suggest considering the following question “What are you going to do differently? (p. 210). For goals to be effective, they must be specific, clear, measurable, and outcome-oriented (Hunt & Weintraub, 2017). There must also be a time frame for completion so that a coach can measure whether the goal has been achieved successfully. Goals that are effective are challenging and motivating for the coachee. Challenging goals help engage the employee and motivate them to achieve the established goal. Hunt and Weintraub (2017) share that when a coach and coachee develop goals, they should focus on only a few high-priority developmental goals. Hunt and Weintraub (2017) continue to describe effective goals by sharing that they are developed in a participatory fashion to encourage commitment to the goal. Lastly, goals should be aligned with the organization’s goals (p.210).
The development of goals is challenging since the coach must ensure that performance goals are created and focus on the behaviors and actions the coachee needs to change. Another factor that must be considered and addressed is how these behavior changes will support and align with the end goal. This is how the coachee’s performance changes, and successes, will be integrated into the organization to support and facilitate the change process on a bigger platform than just the individual employee (Hunt & Weintraub, 2017).
The relationship that a coach and coachee have must be built on a foundation of trust. The more we understand the coachee’s tendencies or preferences, the more a coach can use this knowledge to enhance the coaching experience and effectively assist the coachee in achieving their goals (Flaherty, 2010). Flaherty (2010) describes assessment models as a way to give “shape to our observations” (p.60). An assessment model helps a coachee raise their self-awareness and insight into their behaviors and actions, allowing them to collaborate with their coach to develop meaningful action goals (Young, 2019). Assessment models help the coach understand the underlying causes of a person’s behaviors and actions so they can use this information to identify effective ways to support and educate the coachee in ways to change behaviors and actions so these changes will be permanent changes for them moving forward (Flaherty, 2010).
Flaherty (2010) describes three different assessment models. The Five Element Model describes five areas of observation: Immediate Concerns, Commitments, Future Possibilities, Personal and Cultural History, and the Mood of the Coachee. Each element influences the behaviors and actions of the coachee. The second assessment model is the Domains of Competence which acts on the theory; that to accomplish something, minimal competence must be demonstrated in the following areas: self-management, relationships with others, and third, facts and elements, or the capacity to understand statistics, models, numbers, etc. (Flaherty, 2010). Each of these domains causes people to think differently, so people will naturally move toward the domain that is comfortable for them. The third assessment model described by Flaherty (2010) is the Components of Satisfaction and Effectiveness which lists the competencies of Soul, Context, Will, Emotion, and Intellect, representing competencies that are necessary for someone to feel satisfied and effective.
We cannot assume that every person’s personality, behaviors, and actions are molded into one type of assessment. People constantly change and develop throughout their lives; they are not stagnant. When we try and label an employee through an assessment, a coach may limit their potential and create a “self-fulfilling prophecy” where they begin to treat them according to the indicators in the assessment. Because of this treatment the employee does not develop or change (Flaherty, 2010, p. 60). A coach must consistently assess and reassess their coachee. Therefore, coaches must use assessment models as a resource to understand the reasons behind the behaviors and actions of a coachee. Then, they can use this information and understanding as a tool to help them develop specific, quantifiable goals and ways to help the coachee grow and achieve these goals (Flaherty, 2010).
Have a great week,
Donna
References,
Flaherty, J. (2010). Coaching: Evoking excellence in others (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
Hunt, J. M., & Weintraub, J. R. (2017). The coaching manager: Developing top talent in business (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Young, R., (2019, December). Assessments in coaching: Why and which ones? Forbes Coaching Council. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com>sites>2019//12/11>assessments-in-coaching-why-and-which-ones
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FACILITATING SUCCESSFUL BEHAVIOR CHANGE: BEYOND GOAL SETTING TO
GOAL FLOURISHING
Kenneth Nowack Envisia Learning, Inc., Santa Monica, California
Most successful coaching engagements encourage clients to start, increase, decrease, modify, or stop behaviors that contribute to their effectiveness and performance on the job (Fogg, n.d.). Successfully sustaining new or altered behaviors over time until they become a habit is even more difficult (Nowack, 2009). Goal intentions (e.g., “I want to be a more participative and involvement-oriented leader”) have been found in a recent meta-analysis to be a weak predictor of acquiring new habits and account for approxi- mately 28% of the variance in successful behavior-change efforts (Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006). Translating insight in coaching engagements to deliberate, varied, and ongoing practice has been shown to be associated with long-term successful behavior change (Nowack & Mashihi, 2012). This paper reviews current issues and best practices in goal intentions, goal striving, and goal flourishing to maximize coaching success with clients.
Keywords: goal striving, goal setting, implementation intentions, behavior change, habits
Goal setting and the initiation of new behaviors and sustaining them over time is particularly challenging for most individuals. However, we are all creatures of habit. In fact, on the basis of experience-sampling diary studies using student and community samples, approximately 45% of everyday behaviors tend to be repeated in the same location almost every day (Neal, Wood, & Quinn, 2006; Wood & Rünger, 2016). It is surprising to note that people report a heterogeneous set of actions that vary in habit strength each day, including diverse and established behaviors such as exercise, eating, and daily activities (Wood, Quinn, & Kashy, 2002; Wood, Tam, & Guerrero, 2005). This paper will attempt to summarize current evidence and practice behind goal intentions, goal setting/planning processes, and goal striving resulting in successful creation of new habits (goal flourishing) by addressing six important questions (see Figure 1). Initially, it will be useful to define specific characteristics of coaching goals and then present important factors associated with goal flourishing, including some common myths about goal striving and giving up/quitting goals.
Recent neuroscience research provides both a framework for understanding the resistance to initiating new habits and the challenges around goal flourishing. For example, there appears to be broad and meaningful individual differences in our motivation to try new behaviors, a willingness to take risks, and a tendency to seek novel and intense experiences (Holmes, Hollinshead, Roffman,
This article was published Online First April 17, 2017. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kenneth Nowack, Envisia Learning, Inc.,
2208 6th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405. E-mail: [email protected]
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Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research © 2017 American Psychological Association 2017, Vol. 69, No. 3, 153–171 1065-9293/17/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cpb0000088
153
Smoller, & Buckner 2016). Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Holmes et al. (2016) measured the size of particular regions of the brain for each participant and measured self-reported traits associated with sensation-seeking and impulsivity as well as alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine usage. The strongest links occurred in brain areas related to the ability to regulate emotions and behavior most strongly associated with the anterior cingulate and middle frontal gyrus. Changes in those brain structures also significantly correlated with participants’ self-reported tendency to act on impulse and with heightened use of alcohol, tobacco, or caffeine.
Current research suggests that availability and type of social support (Chiaburu, Van Dam, & Hutchins, 2010; Martin, 2010; Orehek & Forest, 2016) as well as regulation of emotions are equal to, or even more important than, cognitions in predicting both intention and initiation of new habits (Lawton, Conner, & McEachan, 2009). These findings imply an important role for coaches in considering the social-support climate of clients, helping them to manage their emotional reactions and consequences for engaging in behavioral-change efforts as well as assessing “readiness to change” stages that are associated with successful behavior change.
For example, one of the purposes of using 360-degree feedback in coaching interventions is to provide information to coaches to illuminate strengths as well as potential areas for development (Bracken, Rose, & Church, 2016; Nowack & Mashihi, 2012). Some negative reactions to such feedback might actually be motivating for successful behavior change (Atwater & Brett, 2005), but neuroscience research provides answers about why “underestimators” (whose self-ratings are more critical than the ratings of their observers) or those who interpret the feedback as judgmental or hurtful are disengaged and lack motivation to change behavior (Woo, Sims, Rupp, & Gibbons, 2008). In addition, interpersonal judgment and social evaluation tend to elicit strong stress reactions, with cortisol levels in one’s system being elevated 50% longer when the stressor is interpersonal versus impersonal (Dickerson & Kemeny, 2004). As a result, individuals who negatively interpret feedback and experience emotional hurt, rejection, and pain tend to have both blunted motivation to initiate behavior change and diminished readiness for creating implementation intentions that are crucial for successful behavior change. Fortunately for practitioners, there are some individual- change models that help optimize understanding, acceptance, and action that are based on feedback to ensure successful behavior change.
Six Important Ques�ons about Goal Se�ng, Goal Striving, and Goal Flourishing
1. What are the key characteris�cs of goals?
2. If goal inten�ons aren’t generally effec�ve to facilitate behavior change what works be�er?
3. Goal striving: When are clients most mo�vated?
4. How long does it take for new habits to form?
5. When should clients “hold” and when should they “fold” in goal striving?
6. Does prac�ce make perfect?
Figure 1. Six questions about goal setting.
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154 NOWACK
Building on the process models of feedback and change by Gregory, Levy, and Jeffers (2008), Koroleva (2016), and London and Smither (2002), I have proposed a more specific individual behavioral-change model that draws heavily on evidence-based research in the health-psychology and behavioral-medicine literature (see Figure 2). The 3-E model of individual behavior change (Enlighten, Encourage, and Enable; Nowack, 2009) represents a merging of recognized individual behavioral-change theories and models, including the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991), self-efficacy and social– cognitive theory (Bandura, 1977), the health-belief model (Becker, 1974), the transtheoretical model of change (TTM; Prochaska & Velicer, 1997), and extension of the elements of goal-setting theory and performance posited by Locke and Latham (2002). Each of these theories and models should be useful to all coaches who are attempting to influence both insight/ awareness and successful behavior change with their clients.
Successful coaching engagements foster both self-efficacy and self-management of clients (Joo, 2005; Grover & Furnham, 2016). Self-management theorists agree upon two important components that involve cognitive, emotional, and behavioral challenges in goal flourishing (i.e., the successful adoption and targeted results of goal pursuits): goal setting and goal striving (Mann, De Ridder, & Fujita, 2013). Goal setting (Fogg Behavior Grid; Fogg, 2012) typically involves two concepts—the valence of behaviors (start, increase, decrease, stop, do differently) and frequency (one time, sometime, and all of the time). Goal striving typically involves the implementation of actions and behaviors related to goals that have been set, redefining goals during the pursuit, managing lapses from distractions, and dealing with loss of energy or resources that interferes with successful accomplishment. Although often temporal, there are situations in which reappraisal of goals often follows perceived or real obstacles and challenges (e.g., if the goal is unrealistic or resources needed to accomplish the goal change, such as for financial reasons).
Clients tend to initially identify goals (Koestner, Lekes, Powers, & Chicoine, 2002) in which they have an intrinsic stake (“What is in it for me?”) and when they perceive what others expect or desire of them (e.g., 360-degree-feedback results by one’s boss or direct reports to change specific leadership practices). Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), readiness to change (Prochaska & Velicer, 1997), the 3-E model of individual change (Nowack, 2009), and other related models all suggest that a client’s level of motivation and self-efficacy is a critical predictor of successful goal adoption, maintenance, and adherence over time.
Hierarchy of goals also shape what clients will focus on. For example, if a specific goal (e.g., deploying a stress-management technique such as mindfulness meditation) competes with another goal (e.g., spending more time with one’s children after work) based on finances, time, or energy, then clients are unlikely to maintain it over time (Riediger & Freund, 2004). Therefore, helping clients to explore both inhibitors and promoters of goals would appear to be a useful exercise by coaches to facilitate goal completion and success. In addition, research by Kruglanski and colleagues (2002) suggests that when client goals have more than one payoff, clients are more likely to pursue
• Accurate Insight
• Identifying Signature Strengths
• Ideal Self vs. Real Self
Enlighten
• Motivation • Self-Efficacy • Skill Building • Goal
Implementation
Encourage • Practice Plans • "Nudge"
Reminders • Social Support • Relapse
Prevention • Evaluation
Enable
Figure 2. Enlighten, Encourage, and Enable individual change model.
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155BEYOND GOAL SETTING TO GOAL FLOURISHING
all of them because doing so maximizes the outcome with the same effort (e.g., soliciting and accepting feedback from direct reports might simultaneously increase engagement of employees while enhancing perceived agreeableness as a personality trait of the leader).
What Are the Key Characteristics of Goals?
There are several important characteristics that directly influence the goal pursuit that individuals engage in (Koo & Fishbach, 2010). Some of the most important characteristics include difficulty (e.g., easy vs. challenging), proximity of the end state (e.g., short term vs. long term), number of goals to tackle at one time (e.g., single vs. multiple), type of goal (e.g., learning vs. performance), and motivational mindset (e.g., avoidance vs. approach). Each of these five characteristics of goals will be briefly described here.
Easy Goals Versus Challenging/Stretch Goals
Previous studies have traditionally emphasized that goals should not be overly ambitious as exemplified by the SMART goal acronym, which suggests that goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely (Latham, 2003). However, current research suggests that challenging goals lead to greater effort, focus, and persistence than moderately difficult or easy goals and that SMART goals might not be very effective in fully operationalizing the complexity needed for deliberate practice (Nowack, 2015). Such “big, hairy, audacious goals,” or BHAGs, help provide a clear vision of what is to be measured and evaluated at the end of a large-scale behavior-change effort (Collins, 1999).
It has also been suggested that people who perceived their goal as difficult to attain reported higher positive emotion, an increase in job satisfaction, and perceptions of occupational success (Latham & Locke, 2006). In fact, there is some evidence that difficult and unrealistic goals might actually inspire, rather than interfere with, goal pursuit (Latham & Locke, 2013; Linde, Jeffrey, Finch, Ng, & Rothman, 2004). Other research suggests that difficulty of a coaching goal does not appear to impact how successful the coaching engagement actually is in terms of overall goal attainment (Sonesh et al., 2015).
Consider the following implications for coaching: Some researchers argue that lowering the difficulty of goals, rather than enhancing motivation, is the desired strategy for successful behavior change (Fogg, 2012). In summary, encouraging clients to set challenging goals is more likely to stimulate initial readiness to change. However, when faced with obstacles or challenges, reducing barriers to achieving goal success by modifying their difficulty might be a good strategy to follow for clients in coaching engagements (Fogg, 2012).
Short-Term Focus Versus Long-Term Focus
Goals are often distinguished by how far forward they project into the future. Schunk (2001) suggests that short-term goals are achieved more quickly and result in higher motivation and better self-regulation than more distant or long-term goals. Furthermore, research suggests that if long- term goals must be established, subdividing or “chunking” them into more manageable tiny actions or steps can produce greater benefits (i.e., goal attainment).
The time frame for completion needs to be reasonable for goals to be attained (Latham & Locke, 2006). However, individuals are more likely to maintain goals in the face of obstacles and challenges when more time remained for goal pursuit than when less time remained (Schmidt & Deshon, 2007), suggesting that for shorter-term goals, experiencing setbacks early will not necessarily lead to extinction of the initial goal. In addition, people who wrote out their short-term goals, shared their commitment to complete the goals with others, and communicated progress with others were approximately 33% more successful than those who did not document their goals, share intent, and communicate progress with others (Matthews, 2012). Finally, a single focus on the goal without having a specific backup plan appears to be predictive of goal achievement given a longer time frame to accomplish desired results (Shin & Milkman, 2016).
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156 NOWACK
Consider t
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