Expert Assistants: Goal Setting with Your Executive
We’ve all been there at one point or another: we set a goal. It’s exciting, ambitious, and motivating. We crafted it to align with our personal and professional values and we set a timeline to complete it. It was a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound, and Achievable.)
But then, we left it sitting on a piece of paper and went on with our life believing that if we said it, it would happen.
Eventually, the deadline arrives, and you’re hit with disappointment and frustration when you realize you didn’t even come close to achieving it. That’s when we either give up or double down and set another goal, and the cycle repeats itself.
As Executive Assistants, we are uniquely positioned to help our clients avoid this familiar pitfall and support them not only to achieve their goals—but exceed them!
Goal Sharing
Sharing your goals is a key factor to achieving them, and who better to share them with than your right hand–your assistant? Executives are in their role for a reason. They’ve likely set quarterly, annual, and personal goals many times, so they’re often looking for assistance following through on key goals instead of assistance with setting them. Whether that’s through effectively managing their time, supporting their boundaries, or holding them accountable, goal setting presents a unique opportunity for EAs and executives to partner toward greater success.
In order to do this, you need to know your executive’s SMART goals. While some leaders may bring you in easily, others may need some prompting. They may not know this is an area where Executive Assistants can make a big impact. If you’re not sure what bigger things your executive is working toward, you should ask!
We’ve found these to be natural, and high-leverage times for Executive Assistants to touch base with executives to learn more about their vision:
Follow their fiscal calendar and resurface the topic at the beginning of the new fiscal year or quarter
January is a great time to ask about this when many people are making resolutions
Add a monthly progress touchpoint to your check-in with them
Any time! Clients love when you proactively manage up for their best.
Find the Unspoken Goals
While your executive likely has large, overarching, long-term goals, they also have many unspoken goals that they may not even be consciously aware of. This is where an Executive Assistant can lean in even further.
Picture this: Your client wants you to schedule a lunch with a CFO she met at an event last night, but he can’t remember their name and he lost the business card. She expresses frustration at the number of people she meets and how she can’t keep track of them all. “There are so many names to remember!”
This is a perfect example of an unspoken goal: your client wants a stress-free way to manage their networking contacts! A great Executive Assistant would step in and suggest a new goal: by mid-year, let’s establish an intuitive system for managing your professional relationships.
You can elevate their work life by bringing this up and collaborating with them to set a SMART goal. I’ve found when I identify an unspoken goal for a client and offer to help set a goal it is usually met with an enthusiastic, “Yes please!”
Things to remember when you set a goal together:
This is their goal, not yours!
Identify the pain point and the desired outcome
Ask clarifying questions
Make it a SMART goal and keep it simple
Identify and communicate what your role will be
Create a system for checking progress
Keep them accountable!
New Year’sTogether, you can enable your executive to set achievable goals, and be the difference-maker in meeting them. By helping them uncover and set a goal this way, you can improve their work performance and help them reduce unnecessary stress.
Know What’s Behind the Goal
Like so much in life, our goals are driven by our personal values and needs. Let’s say your client has a SMART goal to only take four hours of meetings each workday. There’s more to this goal than just wanting to have a healthy balance. They are turning to you as their gatekeeper to help make this SMART goal a reality—but you need to know the full story so you can make the right decisions for your client.
In this example, if your client wants to limit their work meetings, identify why:
Are they experiencing Zoom Fatigue?
Are they saying “yes” to everything?
Are they unable to move key projects forward?
Is their work/life balance suffering?
Is there something else prompting this?
Once you know “the why” you can effectively support your client’s SMART goal by prioritizing key meetings, helping them say no, setting boundaries, or switching some meetings to phone instead of Zoom, all of which help them take back control of their workflow and increase productivity.
Build Your Own SMART Goal for Their Goal
SMART goals aren’t just for your client, they are for you too! Executive Assistants juggle a lot of competing priorities, and it can be easy for you to lose sight of long term goals.
One of my executives set a goal to increase their organization’s funding by 30% through cultivating relationships with key donors, bringing in new donors, and securing three new grants. Supporting this goal wasn’t going to be as simple as a new routine or scheduling work blocks. This would require strategic, thoughtful and long-term support.
So I created my own SMART goal: using a tracker to guide planning for the next month, I monitored new funding relationships and overall progress to the goal. This helped us stay on track, and keep my executive’s goal at the forefront of their mind. It also helped to create accountability for my client while simultaneously providing them with small wins each month of the year.
Celebrating small wins is a very important motivating factor; read more from us about the power of positive reinforcement.
When you set a goal alongside your executive’s goal, it builds ownership and accountability. Your goals allow you to be actively involved instead of just checking off a bullet point in an agenda. This will also build trust and confidence in your working relationship as your executive sees you are truly invested in their success!
Be Their Champion
One last tip to effectively set a goal with your client: be their biggest champion. You play a vital role in their success—but ultimately it is their goal and their success. You have a unique opportunity to listen, learn, adapt, and cheer them on. Be sure to provide reliable and strong support, but let them own their goals and successes.
If they are telling you that something isn’t working, don’t dig your heels in and tell them to keep doing it anyway, even if you think that’s best. Listen to their perspective and then realign with their wants and needs. It might seem counterintuitive, but it will help you to achieve the best outcome for their SMART goal.
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