Creating a Goal in the Leadership Roadmap

This guide explains how to create a goal in the Leadership Roadmap feature of the Sounding Board app. It provides step-by-step instructions and guidance on naming and outlining the goal, linking it to leadership capabilities, identifying business outcomes, and considering personal impact. The Leadership Roadmap serves as a framework for tracking leadership development and can be used collaboratively within coaching or mentoring engagements. This guide is useful for individuals who want to set specific leadership objectives and track their progress towards becoming more effective leaders.

Interactive Walkthrough

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Written Walkthrough

1. Navigate to https://coaching.soundingboardinc.com and log in.

The Leadership Roadmap, a feature in the Sounding Board app, allows users to chart their leadership development objectives and track their advancement. It serves as a guiding framework for developmental journeys.

The Leadership Roadmap is accessible to all users, yet it shines brightest when employed collaboratively within an engagement, be it coaching or mentoring. Within an engagement, both users have access to the leader's Leadership Roadmap and goals created.

Goals are the specific, desired leadership behaviors that an individual wants to be activating on a daily basis in their leadership.

2. Navigate to the “Leadership Roadmap” option on the left-hand navigation panel.

3. Create a Goal

You will be taken through a flow to help you make your goal as robust as possible to start -

• Click "ADD GOAL" or
• Click "ADD DEVELOPMENT GOAL"

4. Your Goal

The first step is going to be naming and outlining the goal -

• Fill in "What is the name of this goal?"
• Fill in "What do you want to accomplish?"
• Click "NEXT"

💡 Tip: Below is some guidance for thinking about what to capture in the goals section and how to write them most effectively.

• Goals should describe WHAT you want to accomplish in your leadership, not what you want to stop doing. They name the desired leadership behavior.
• Be mindful of stacking too many things into one goal. The narrower the focus of the goal, the easier it is to monitor and document growth.
• Try to start the goals with an active verb (e.g., Initiate, Engage, Empower, Assert). Given goals are desired leadership behaviors; the goal is to help you name the pattern of behavior you are looking to adopt, not just a one or two-time demonstration of that behavior (Note: That's an action instead).
• Well-written goals are:
  • Significant
  • Specific
  • Concrete
  • Action-oriented
  • Inspirational

Check out some examples below for some tangible ideas.

1. Example 1: Expand my knowledge of various areas within the organization
   1. Initiate and maintain interactions with other subject area leaders across the organization to gain visibility and input on a broad range of topics.
2. Example 2: Influence the organizational culture
   1. Grow and assert my leadership authority to positively influence the organizational culture.
3. Example 3: Empower my team to operate independently
   1. Proactively and intentionally empower my team to operate independently, free up my time for more cross-functional strategic work.

5. Leadership Capabilities

You can think of leadership capabilities as combined sets of skills and mindsets used to impact the daily business of the organization more strategically as a leader. Leadership capabilities are embedded throughout our platform as they provide a frame and focus for leadership development.

Link your goal up to at least one Leadership Capability -

• Click the relevant Leadership Capability(ies)
• Click "NEXT"

If you want more context around your company's Leadership Capabilities,

• Click "LEARN MORE ABOUT LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES" to see more in-depth details.

6. Business Outcomes

Business outcomes refer to the tangible results or consequences achieved through the execution of strategic initiatives or the attainment of specific goals.

• Select the Business Outcome(s) that will be impacted by achieving the goal
• Rate each for what impact will achieving this goal have on your organization?
• Click "NEXT"

7. Personal Impact

Personal impact refers to the transformative effects experienced by individuals within the organization due to the achievement or pursuit of the goal.

• Select the Personal Impact(s) that will occur by achieving the goal, and reflect on How might achieving this goal impact you personally.
• Click "DONE"

💡 Tip: You can update your goal at any time after creating it, to do so click the edit/pencil icon.

🚨 Alert: Information about Draft Goals

• If an individual has not finalized the creation of a specific goal by mapping the goal as described, you can delete the goal within the platform.
• These goals will show "Continue," and when you select the goal, you will be taken to complete the set-up.
• Any goals your manager or coach suggested will display in this status until you complete the goal set-up.
• Any goals in Draft status will not be accessible by your coach or manager (if you decide to share) until they are Active.
• However, after a goal has been fully created, the only options for that goal are to Pause or to mark it as Accomplished.