Goal Replacement

One goal can be replaced by a second goal that is more closely affiliated with an individual’s or an organization’s true interests. A coach like Alicia might ask her client questions like:

• What do you really want to see happen?
• What do you/your department really need?
• What is even more important than this goal?
• What would happen if you really took this goal seriously?
• What would you like the outcomes of this project to be?
• What would you like to celebrate three years from now if you were very successful in this unit of the organization?

When forced to clarify goals, a manager like Susan often can be more successful simply by directing her efforts more consistently toward the truly important goals of her division or organization. Other coaching strategies (particularly Aspirational coaching) that emphasize the clarification of one’s purpose or broader goals also provide leaders with an opportunity to establish and monitor their goals; however, the professional coaching process additionally encourages leaders to reflect on her actions and question their choices from a higher level of awareness (second order change).

Espoused and Enacted Goals

A leader can also be encouraged by her coach to examine her current behavior and the behavior of other people in her department, division or organization against their respective goals. She engages in this professional process in order to consider whether or not the current, enacted behavior exemplifies the espoused goal or actually another, as yet unidentified, goal. A coach might ask his coaching colleague:

• If you are not moving very effectively toward your espoused goal then perhaps this is not truly the goal toward which you are working. What might this goal be?
• If you were someone from Mars who came to your unit and observed what is being done and what people are talking about, what would you assume to be the goals and purposes of this part of the organization?
• How do you think members of your unit benefit from the way(s) in which your unit now operates?
• What are some of the unspoken truths about this goal around here?