Like your holiday gifts, how are you wrapping up this year’s challenges and preparing to secure the gift of next year’s success? You are invited to complete your own Sustainable Success Review, either on your own or partnering with me as your coach (I have limited openings) (Coaching provides an ROI of 700%)
Pat, like many emerging leaders, was challenged by the increasing complexity of managing their time and communication. She partnered with me through coaching to overcome her communication and time management challenges, increase her cultural awareness and confidence as she learned, as in the following process, to make a practice of recognizing and celebrating success. The results? Not only a promotion with salary increase, but also improved skills with organizational and stakeholders’ positive impact.
I delight in partnering with leaders, teams and coaches to not only unlock their own potential and prosperity but also their organization’s and stakeholders’, especially with both high potential, emerging leaders and those who are preparing to leave and want to actively share their legacy rather than coast, as well as mentoring and supervising coaches.
The following Sustainable Success Review implements the “T” in IMPACT: “Take Stock of Success and Repeat.”(from my Breaking Free from Bias book) I invite you to share your successes so we can celebrate together!
I. List your achievements for the past year, take time to savor them, celebrate, and identify what is working! You can do this and still be humble. I challenge you to address professional and personal gains as they all work together to ensure your sustainable success. These may include:
- New friends, clients, associates, partners, business (reviewing your business and marketing plans)
- Increasing your cultural intelligence (CQ) which can include increasing your awareness of your own and others’ cultural identities, adjusting your communication for your audience as well as identifying and managing bias
- Increasing your awareness of and ability to identify and manage your emotions (EQ)
- Skills and/or knowledge gained and implemented
- Releasing a negative thinking pattern
- How you have been orienting your organization and life around its mission, vision and values
- Ways of serving others
- What you did to purposefully add to your own and others’ joy, peace
- Separating yourself from your work (and devices!)
- Taking centering breaks throughout the day
- Relaxing and renewing each hour, day, month and year
- Taking great care of your body (healthy diet, exercise)
- Honoring your spiritual well being, etc.
Better yet, do not limit this review to once a year. Take the time annually, AND monthly. Plan a monthly or quarterly retreat or check in. I want to celebrate with you! This year I’m celebrating being recognized for my ICF Circle of Distinction Award, sharing “How to Be a Peaceful Presence in a Divided World” with coaches and leaders in Finland, Ukraine, and in 2023, at the University of Peace in Costa Rica, partnering with coaches and leaders on their development and ICF credentials, among my abundant blessings, which include amazing clients, friends, colleagues, you.
II. List others’ contributions you are thankful for, and your greatest supporters, and let them know how they have added value to your life. You may choose to write a note, tell them in person, or plan a celebration event.
III. Finish anything that is left undone. This will free up your focus and energy for the new year. Examples:
- Apologizing to a co-worker, friend, or family member
Organizing your office, home
Finishing a project
Paying off a debt
Saying something that needs to be said
Forgiving yourself or someone else
Going for your annual medical and dental check ups
Setting clearer boundaries, etc.
High potential, emerging leaders I coach especially need to put clearer boundaries in place, improve their delegation and team leadership skills in order to focus their time and attention on implementing their vision. Experienced leaders too, in our rapidly changing VUCCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Culturally Complex, Ambiguous environment.
III. Develop, map out your plan. Building on what you have identified as working well, next you come up with a plan for each area, including action steps and completion dates, to achieve your desired results. I have used Asana, a free project management software, for this; and oftentimes find myself writing ideas in my journal when I wake in the morning and then calendaring them in.
Partnering with a coach who will provide encouragement, support, objective feedback, creative brainstorming and accountability will boost your likelihood of following through. You may choose to ask your coach to partner with you in identifying and removing any barriers to your sustainable success plan, and also to recognize and affirm how you are already making progress.
Another option is to create a collage of your sustainable success, a vivid visual reminder. Mine includes meaningful words and images that represent my purpose, vision (Unlocking Potential so all can live in Prosperity & Peace) and values.
IV. Complete the process by taking your calendar and planning in time for what keeps you focused and refreshed, including time away from work. I do all of the above! Warning: Burned out leaders, teams, employees do not benefit your organization’s image, culture, or bottom-line.
V. Finally, I invite you to check your Sustainable Success plan. Does it cover each major area of your life? You might ask yourself some coaching questions to get clear about what you want in each area, like: How does this relate to my life purpose? What would it mean to live up to my highest expectations in this aspect of my life? What will it take for me to move forward?
- Fun and recreation
Career
Friends and family
Finances
Well being
Personal/spiritual growth
Significant other/romance
Physical environment
and whatever else is really important to you, for example, service to others.
You do not need to wait all year to do this, do it quarterly or even more frequently!
To our success, we are in this together! Stay tuned for more Keys to Unlocking Potential!
Marilyn O’Hearne, MSW, MCC, LLC
CQ, Master Certified Coach, International Coach Federation
www.marilynoh.com marilyn@marilynoh.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/cqcoachmentormarilynohearne/
www.facebook.com/CoachMarilynOh
P.S. I partner with leaders, teams and coaches to unlock potential while increasing prosperity and peace.
Leaders, apply for a strategy session with me to discover how to further unlock your, your team and your organization’s potential.
Coaches ready to advance your coaching and credentialing? Register for our Culturally Intelligent Mentor Coaching+Certificate Program, exceeding ICF mentor coaching requirements, with a 98% success rate and providing up to 24.5 Coach Education hours, 23 of those in Core Competency for ’22. Applied for 30 hours for 2023.
What is costing you to wait? Act now! “Cultural Intelligence, in the past perhaps a “good to have” is now an essential leadership and coaching competency.” CQ Mentor Coaching + Certificate participant says and 90% of global leaders agree.
Go to https://www.marilynoh.com/3-steps-to-sustainable-success-agility/ and https://www.marilynoh.com/3-steps-to-sustainable-success-with-stewardship/ for more steps to sustainable success.
Copyright 2002, 2009, 2015, 2022 Marilyn O’Hearne All rights reserved. As seen in Kansas City Small Business Monthly. Excerpted from Renewing Your Spirit Workbook, Marilyn O’Hearne, Copyright 2005.
I love the idea of taking future plans/goals/dreams and turning them into something tangible like a visual collage. I imagine that exercise helps us focus in on what is within our control and what is not. I also assume it brings the future into our reality today. Thanks for sharing the idea!
Hi Lawrence, What results have you experienced with your collage and/or the results of the review?