Sie sind eine Führungskraft, die sich beruflich weiterentwickeln möchte. Wie identifizieren Sie mit Coaching-Unterstützung die richtigen Ziele?

As an executive coach, I encourage leaders to reflect on what they want to achieve and who they want to become. While many executives excel at defining their career aspirations, it’s equally important to focus on their desired identity. Who would you like to be remembered as--by your colleagues, direct reports, family, friends, and community? Subsequently, what would you need to learn, unlearn, and adopt to be that desired self? A powerful exercise to facilitate this is envisioning your future self, a concept introduced by Hal Hershfield. The greater your clarity and conviction of who you want to be in the future, the stronger your commitment to fulfilling your goals, which will bring you closer to your desired future self.

To advance your executive presence, your image and wardrobe play a crucial role in reflecting and supporting your career goals. Working with a coach, identify goals that align with your personal brand and professional aspirations. Choose a wardrobe that enhances your executive presence—opting for high-quality, well-tailored attire that conveys confidence and authority. Your image should align with the roles you're aiming for, helping to reinforce your commitment to growth. Consistent, polished presentation supports your goals, while coaching can help refine your approach to align both your appearance and strategy for optimal career advancement.

Executive coaching can help you gain clarity on your career goals. This process may lead you to reflect on your values, identity and purpose. Your coach can be a valuable sounding board in this process and help you hone in on what you would like to achieve.

Identifying the right goals with coaching support starts with clarity. As an executive, you should first reflect on your long-term vision and core values. Coaching helps crystallize these by asking probing questions and providing frameworks that align your goals with your personal and professional aspirations. Together, we’ll break down your ambitions into actionable steps. This structured approach not only clarifies what success looks like for you but also keeps you motivated and on track.

Develop a vision of your legacy. What do you aim to leave behind, how do you want to be known, what would you regret most if you never tried? Then get feedback from those who know you well to bring clarity and focus to your goals and growth efforts.

Create a Roadmap I would advocate for developing a strategic roadmap that outlines the steps needed to achieve the executive’s career goals. I also recommend breaking down larger goals into smaller, actionable milestones, ensuring that each step is connected to the overall career vision. Identify Key Opportunities I will encourage the executive to identify key growth opportunities, such as taking on challenging projects, seeking out leadership roles, or expanding their network. I suggest that the roadmap include these opportunities as part of the strategic plan.

I worked with a senior executive who had big career aspirations but no roadmap to get there. Together, we broke down their goals into strategic, manageable steps, creating a clear pathway for growth. Strategy mapping isn't just about setting a destination; it's about understanding the journey and being prepared for every twist and turn. A well-defined strategy keeps you on track and focused.

Executives seeking career advancement should start by identifying key growth areas, whether expanding expertise, integrating across portfolios, or addressing an underdeveloped soft skill or an overused strength. Feedback—direct or anonymous—can help, and a confidential 360-degree assessment by a coach can pinpoint the most valuable area for development. Next, seek sponsorship from the CEO, board, or a mentor to provide guidance and accountability. Finally, adopting an experimentation mindset fosters learning and adaptability, leading to intentional growth and new opportunities aligned with career goals.

Is it competence or commitment? That's one of the most foundational questions to answer. When there's a gap between where we want to go and where we are, these two terms offer different paths. Competence is a gap that we can address through training, mentoring, or guidance. Commitment gaps are trickier; they have to be resolved from within. Mentoring helps a lot here. It becomes tricky when we confuse the two. When we send people for training who actually have a commitment gap, that's when it often falls apart.

One of my clients, a high-potential executive, realised they needed to sharpen their negotiation skills to advance. We identified specific areas for improvement and created a tailored development plan. Skill enhancement is crucial for career growth; it’s about recognising where you need to grow and taking deliberate steps to bridge those gaps. Continuous learning keeps you relevant and ready for the next step.

One of the biggest disservices you can do to yourself & your career is taking new courses and trainings without thinking if it will help you with your career goal. Instead, you focus on what others are doing. It's called Shiny Object Syndrome. I suggest beginning with the end in mind. Identify the next position that you wish to be positioned for and then assess what skills may be required with your coach. If you need to upskill, then identify the right training and courses and complete them with sincerity. Invest in yourself and don't wait for the employer to fund it. Offered a role where you might not have the required credentials? You're being offered the role because you have potential. Skill up and show up!

Upskilling is critical in growing. To become the person need to achieve something new, you have to step into being someone new. (this applies even if you had the requisite skill set but never 'owned it' prior, you are becoming someone who now 'owns it', which is new). A coach can help you objectively identify which new skills you will require in order to start to achieve the career growth you desire. A great coach will also hold you accountable as you take action toward your goal.

One of the best sources of Goal planning for career growth is Feedback. A 360 feedback or BI feedback (for senior executives) is invaluable in identifying strengths, opportunities and critical competencies needed. Developmental feedback from annual discussions is another source. The third source is mapping one’s competencies against the Organization’s strategic themes and imperatives. As a coach, I believe that one can get great insights into what is needed for career growth by mapping one’s competencies with the Job Description of the next two higher levels.

Constructive feedback is an important tool to accelerate growth and change. We cannot rely only on the voice in our head as it is subject to the failings of blind spots and ignorance. Our perspective carries limitations, so the benefits of feedback loops provide a channel for useful outside feedback to blend our approach with new information that improves our end results. The benefits being that you will accelerate your growth curve, stay ahead of your competition and enjoy the process even more.

I remember coaching a manager who wasn’t progressing as expected. The key issue? Lack of constructive feedback. We established regular feedback loops with their team and stakeholders, which provided valuable insights and growth opportunities. Feedback is a powerful tool for identifying blind spots and areas of improvement—it’s a gift that keeps on giving in your career journey.

1.Career growth starts with assessing present position and future expectations. An executive can plan to reach the peak of their career in ten years. 2. Set goals around the area of interest. Leverage every available training and sponsorship in that area. 3. Seek mentors within and outside the organization for guidance and support. 4. Learn to help other employees and professionals within and outside the network as well. You will need them as you progress in your career. Volunteer to join planning committees at conferences. 5. Integrity and reliable will earn the trust of fellow associates. 6. Together with the coach, evaluate milestones reached from time to time. Address any concerns and keep growing until set goals are achieved.

Being accountable helps keep growth on track. It prevents our weak habits from slowing the growth of better ones. The coaching relationship helps keep you disciplined. With a coach keeping you on track, you can devote all your energy to staying focused on the behaviors you need to keep executing on.

During my coaching sessions, I’ve seen the impact of having a strong accountability partner. One client struggled to stay focused on their goals. We set up regular check-ins and progress reviews, which made all the difference. An accountability partner keeps you on track, offers support, and challenges you to stay committed to your goals, ensuring consistent progress.

One of the things I found helpful is to state your commitment out loud. This could be to your partner, your coach, social media and have them help keep you accountable to your goals. If you go at it alone there is always a risk you might not go very far. Your coach can be your accountability partner by helping you formulate your goal, but also help you process the ways you achieve your goal. Circling back on the goal and actions you committed to, will help you with accountability. This is where a longer coaching engagement can be very useful, especially if there are multiple smaller goals that will lead you to your big goals.

Executive Coaching will help you build and strengthen the muscle of resilience. Executive growth is not for the faint of heart. It isn't the easy path. Because of that if you do not have resilience, even IF you achieve what you hoped for, the pursuit and or the receipt of it, will break you without resilience. View it as a strength and your executive coach as your battle tested personal trainer. They will help you not only win, but enjoy the victory.