We’ve all been there. You write someone an email. They write back. You make a mental note to follow up with them as soon as you get a minute - but then work gets a little crazy. 

You are called into a meeting. Your boss needs an urgent report. A coworker has an emergency and requires your assistance. A client calls and asks you to come to their office ASAP.

Eventually, the dust settles and you can finally return to your desk. You pull up your inbox, ready to respond to the email thread, only to find the other person has sent you a follow-up message: 

“?”

When pursuing a new goal, people tend to focus on what new habits or routines they’ll need to start.

This is the obvious way to start working toward a goal: I have a goal, and I’m coming up with the actions I need to take to achieve it. This is a really important, foundational part of a goal-oriented mindset! I’m all about it—seriously, I nerd out on this stuff.

However, something that people often overlook is what they need to stop doing.

I’m from Seattle and follow the Seahawks. As a result, I am also a big fan of Pete Carroll and his (sometimes unorthodox) approach to management. I am especially fond of his tendency to bring in a variety of guest speakers to talk to his team.

This season, Angela Duckworth, professor, scientist, and author of the book Grit, came to speak to the players during training camp. One of the things she talked about was goal fusion, the idea that a goal is integrated into one's self-concept.

When they practice goal fusion, high-performance athletes do not focus on the hard or mundane activities they do every day.

When they train, they don’t say, “I’m doing drills!” They say, “I’m winning the Super Bowl!”

In other words, they fuse the boring stuff together to help them focus on a high-level goal.

Giving and receiving feedback can be one of the toughest things to do in the workplace, but it’s an absolutely critical skill for leading high-performing teams.

Radical Candor is based on the premise that building strong, trusting relationships with direct reports is one of the keys to effective leadership. You’ve got to be able to tell people how they’re doing, both the good and the bad, without demoralizing or beating around the bush.

During our careers, we’ve all come across leaders who just really seem to know their stuff. They understand the intricacies of their industry….at one point in their career, they were probably bad at their job.

For today’s leaders, a large emphasis is placed on creating psychologically safe workplaces that make people feel supported. A supported staff  — one that understands what’s expected of them and has the proper training and resources to achieve it  — is a happy, productive staff. Proper, regular feedback, whether positive or negative, can be a great motivator.

However, it’s also critical for today’s leaders to remember that people like the sense of achievement that comes with taking on and overcoming difficulty.

Are you in a Chief of Staff role looking for a coach? With my own experience as a Chief of Staff and executive leadership coach, I’ve got more and more people looking to better understand this role - and how to do it well.