How Are You Seeking Support from Team Members For Your Goals?

One of my job descriptions with teams is helping them with their personal development goals. Most of these goals made early in the year or mid-year are meant to help each organization keep their staff in check with individual goals that align with organizational goals to help them ace it at work.

?As simple as setting the goals are, they are set up to keep team members at par with global growth plans. Let’s get practical and share some challenges with most of the team members during reviews and how to address them

Team members that are higher in the ranks not helping younger colleagues with their individual learning plans.

One strategy that works well enough is reaching out to senior colleagues to help you with their advice or serve as a mentor for younger employees. As simple as this sounds most employees assume that because their senior colleagues were assigned to work with them as mentors they would automatically show up for them, most times these things don’t work that way.?When you hear excuses like ‘the senior colleague assigned to me was very busy and had no time for me”

?I refuse to accept this and ask deeper cos these things work differently.

As interesting as this narrative is, you can’t force people to help you but you can always show up with value or enthusiasm and so much effort to give them a reason to run with you. An instance could be offering to pay for coffee with a colleague who knows better or the very basic one, talking over lunch with the goal of sharing progress reports on your journey. Most times this works and falls under the category of effort.

?I am aware of how interested I get when a younger colleague shows effort in what they are doing and how I could help compared to guilt-tripping of “what you should do for me” the difference is that the first sounds entitled while the second is collaborative and shows the person has a growth mindset. most people who have something going for them want to contribute as long as their little bit changes the game for you so effort counts

Position yourself as the next young kid who is hungry for growth and who also ??has value

As a fan of good football, I remembered watching one of the best old days of Lionel Messi playing for Fc Barcelona at that time Zlatan Ibramovich was meant to be the striker but was having a very?bad day on the pitch. He missed almost every opportunity to score as if he had a pact with the opponent's goalpost never to score and it was scary passing the ball to him. on the other side Leo had scored a hat trick.

The match was Fc Barcelona against Zaragoza ?Leo?was fouled in the penalty box and he got a chance to take the penalty and probably?score his fourth. sensing how bad his colleague felt and how much effort he had made, he passed the ball to Zlatan, and this time he converted the spot kick. we could see the relief on his face.

The big lesson in all this is that your colleague could help you achieve your goals but you must show much effort yourself and stop hosting pity parties about how you haven't been helped cos nothing is completely given unless you show interest.

As the year winds down and you reflect on your organization and individual goals how are you planning your end-of-the-year retreat with your team and last quarter goal setting?

Living in Nigeria, Seeking training and development for your team that keeps you on a continuous learning curve??

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Charles Umeh? is a Global – leadership author and Thought leader well-known for improving and helping the next generation in the workplace. He uses the tools of books, workshops, and knowledge events to achieve these goals. He has written and co-written six books on leadership, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

His TED Talk?Think like a changemaker ?is a clarion call for the next generation to align with their work and calling. Charles works with teams and executives both as a shadow board and as a Third opinion for corporates and individuals his newest book?Redefining Talent ?which addresses the human skills challenge for the Executives and HR leading the next generation at work. He produces and hosts the?btcshow ?a reservoir of knowledge for the upward mobile and next-generation entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs You should subscribe.

Charles Leads the team of facilitators and thought leaders at the work lab in a continuous learning program The worklab was birthed to equip humans in the various industry in the workplace to build structures that align with modern-day realities at work.

The worklab targets the next generation in the workplace and focuses on a much more profound learning approach to continuous learning of basic human skills for Generation next in the workplace. Our modules cater to them fresh graduates, middle team leads, managers, professionals trying to transition to higher roles, intrapreneurs transiting to full entrepreneurship, and our newest addition worklab for kids which helps kids align with values for everyday living and work. Sign up for the?worklab. ?www,breakingthecoconut.com

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Charles Umeh