At Transcend, we’ve had the privilege of training an amazingly diverse group of professional coaches who have helped their clients set important and meaningful goals and move towards them.
We reached out to our alumni of coaches and some of them shared their best tip for setting effective, well-formed goals. Read them below.
Franziska von Kleist
Certified Professional Coach and Partner of Transcend International, Transcend Coach Alumni
My “tip” for setting effective goals would be doing the tool “The Islands of Interest” (I learned it in my Transcend Coach Training) with the client. This tool is so very helpful to support the client to gather and then prioritize his/her issues. Then ask: What is most important for you right now? Questions like “In what way would your life be better/different if you would achieve this goal? Who would you be if you achieved this goal? What will be possible now?” will help the client identify and connect with his/her goal on a deeper level and have the right energy to move forwards.
Anjan Bhowmick
CHRO/ED/Turnarounds/High Performing Team/
Profitable Growth/Cornell/Academy of HRD/SIBM,
Transcend Coach Alumni
Framing an effective goal or a well-formed goal is an enabler to reach your ‘high level’ aspiration. I pivot my session around the goal which brings in focus and value for my client. Sometimes you might find a ‘goal within a goal’ wherein as a coach, one needs to nurture.
Jenny Wong
Learning & Development Advisor
Coach | MBTI accredited practitioner,
Transcend Coach Alumni
An effective goal should ideally be in positive form and include the outcome of the goal. As a coach, we should never assume but help the clients understand more about it with coaching questions as there may be something hidden under the ‘iceberg’.
Ted Chiu
Creative Leader / Design Thinking / Innovation / Creative Strategies, Transcend Coach Alumni
Recently I have been applying Design Thinking into coaching techniques and thought this may be helpful in creating tips for effective goal setting. The method is called E.D.I.T.
E: Empathize by understanding/asking What and Why?
D: Define targeted accomplishments, how and how long to get there.
I: Ideate. Be creative on the different ways to get there.
T: Test. Testing may reveal do’s and don’ts and create more options in setting those goals.
Hope that you find the tips above helpful. See below more resources on creating “well-formed goals”, which are relevant whether you are a coach, aspiring to be one, or simply looking to optimize goal setting for yourself and/or others around you.
Download our Comprehensive Guide
Watch our series of Leadership Chat
Learn all about Setting Well-Formed Goals NOW by watching this video
Watch the other coaching webinars we have and gain clarity about some foundational and advanced coaching topics
