Episode 294 Transcript:

This is episode 294, and it’s January of 2026. And of course it’s goal setting season, but I’m not gonna repeat what everyone else tells you about goal setting. We’re gonna talk about two differentiating factors that are really important for when you set and want to achieve your goals for the year, but often don’t get talked about. So that is what this podcast is about. And if you’re ready and able to, don’t just make this a listening session, but also have a pen and paper ready. ’cause I’m gonna ask you some questions that you wanna be prepared to answer.

Okay? Without further ado, let’s dive in.

Here are the two questions. This podcast answers. One, how do you successfully transition into your first official leadership role? And two, how do you keep climbing that leadership ladder and continuously get promoted, 

although the competition and the expectations get bigger. This show with a manager track podcast will provide the answers. I’m your host, Ramona Shaw. 

I’m on a mission to create workplaces where work is seen as a source of [00:01:00] contribution, connection and personal fulfillment. And this transition starts with developing a new generation of leaders who know how to lead. So everyone wins and gross. In the show, you’ll learn how to think, communicate and act as a confident and competent leader. 

You know, you can be. 

I am so glad you’re here. Happy New Year to you. Um, and I’m excited that you’re starting this year off with me and this podcast. My goal for this podcast continues to be, to inspire you, to bring you food for thought and practical tips to strengthen your leadership skills. So at the time this podcast gets released, it’s again January 20, 26.

But I actually wanna kick us off a year ago. So let’s rewind to January, 2025. Think about where you were early January a year ago, and I mean physically, like where were you that year? [00:02:00] Pick a moment. Maybe it was in your apartment that you recall, or maybe you were traveling, but pick a moment that you can remember.

It could be a birthday party, whatever that might have been. And now try to connect with the kind of person that you were. What goals did you set? What worries did you have? What did you enjoy? And what did you not enjoy I know this may feel odd ’cause we’re actually talking about goals for 2026, but doing this quick reflection to recall who you were a year ago matters for the conversation we’re gonna have in this episode.

And it’s actually a really useful exercise. So if you are serious about your career goals or your life goals for the year. Spend the few minutes here with me on this podcast actually doing the work. Don’t skip it. Don’t try to go the easy way. Actually do the work necessary for you to grow. Now, if you are like most of us, you now realize that the year.

[00:03:00] 2025 didn’t quite go as you planned. So if you remember January, 2025, anticipating the year and the goals that you set and what you wanted to achieve, and now a year later, you know, having seen what actually transpired, you probably realize that some things were easier than you thought, some were harder, some things that happened that you totally anticipated.

Others felt like a curve ball that totally blindsided you, and maybe you or even someone in your family dealt with a health issue. Maybe your company underwent a reorg or layoffs. Maybe someone on your team resigned. Maybe you yourself resigned and started a new job. Maybe it was a project that was supposed to be done by tune that is actually still haunting you.

This is normal. We set goals, we mean them, and then kinda life does [00:04:00] it stinks. Stuff happens. Right. So here is what we’re doing today. A we’re not throwing out goals. Goals do matter, even if they change and life happens, right? But you can find a million YouTube videos and goal setting. And of course we’re gonna check the show notes as well.

’cause we’re gonna link to previously released episodes on goal setting.

So I definitely encourage you to think about how to set strong goals, how to go about it, and all of that. Maybe even your organization has some process on how to set work goals and career goals. But what we are going to do instead in this episode is to look at two practices that most people skip

and they’re the actual differentiators between plans that survive and plans that don’t. Number one is the identity comes before the goal. Number two is preparing for what could go wrong. Now, I’m not exaggerating here, but this is going to change how you think about [00:05:00] 2026. It’s not gonna be a long episode, but stick with me until the very end.

’cause we’re gonna talk about all these different steps that are gonna amplify your goal setting process. So as I said earlier, unless you’re driving here or are at the chain or walking or something, if you can close your eyes and imagine December, 2026. Who are you then?

So instead of looking back of who were you in January, 2025 and what did you plan for? How did you think, who was that person? You are not the same person that you were a year ago. And reflecting back to then and who you are today, you’ll probably recognize like, oh man, I’ve grown a bunch.

There are a lot of things that I see differently now. Things that have gotten stronger about things that have changed. So now we’re gonna project forward. Same kind of concept, but into the future. December, 2026. Who are you? Not what did you achieve, [00:06:00] but who are you then, because here’s the thing,

goals are outcomes. But the identity is about who you become in the process of achieving those goals. And the identity is way stickier than the achievement in itself. It’s also way more profound change that you undergo and allows you to actually personally grow through the achievement of goals.

And if it’s not for the growth of ourselves, then why are we trying to achieve goals? The idea that be happier at some point or that will have fewer problems. That’s an illusion. We all have problems. No matter how successful you are.

We all have happy days and unhappy times. We all have challenges and problems. So it’s not really that, it’s the pursuit of goals. And of course there might be some material benefits that go along with it, but the big part is really the growth of [00:07:00] ourselves, the recognition of how we’re changing, how we’re achieving things, the pride that we develop when we see what we’ve accomplished.

So the identity is a huge part and it gets. Undervalued all the time, and we just talk about, you know, setting a goal and setting a target without really asking ourselves, who do I need to become? And this is not woo woo, this is research. This has been proven over and over again. High performers built that identity.

So let’s spend some time today building your identity and to start, some people like to give that person in the future a name. So let’s say. In my life, I’ve gone through multiple stages and I wanna say I’m building like Ramona version 3.0, and I could say in a year, Ramona 3.0 will be my new normal.

It’s not yet. I’m still sort of like going forth and back between 2.0, 3.0 [00:08:00] back to 2.0. But I want 3.0 to be the default and my target and to be on 4.0 and. Ramona 3.0 it’s my label for who I want to be at the end of the year.

Now you could use a similar concept. You can also just create an alter ego name, or you can reference a particular role. Hey, if I’m a vp, then it’s sort of that VP role that I’m really trying to, or that VP identity I’m really trying to live into.

If it’s an alter ego name like Beyonce, used Sasha Fierce, right? To grow into her stage persona, do whatever works for you, but having a term makes this easier. But really the core of this is describing this person. And you might wanna start with asking yourself a few questions.

Even if you are now driving or walking, think about this. How do you decide in that new future, right? At the end of the year, how will you decide when you are under pressure? [00:09:00] What will you do then? What are the standards that you keep and that will be non-negotiable for you even when you’re slammed or even when it gets uncomfortable.

How do you treat people when the stakes are high? Ask that next version. How will you be thinking about your coworkers, about work, about your organization? What do you practice or what will you practice on a weekly or maybe even a daily basis? Those are questions to sort of like get started and start to define that identity.

Ramona 3.0, how will she think, how will she operate? What will she be doing? What standards will she uphold no matter what? How will she display courage? All of those questions are things that I’m answering today in order to start to live into that and really embody that identity.

Now [00:10:00] I said, this is research backed, but why does it actually work? It’s, the whole concept is called identity based motivation. People are way more likely to take action when it feels consistent with who they are, and when things get hard, they interpret that difficulty differently if it fits their identity versus if it doesn’t.

This is also a concept called self concordance. So goals that align with your actual values and interests and your identity predict sustained effort over time. Not just sort of the short burst, but the sustained effort. So if you see yourself as a runner and you say.

I’m a runner. That’s just what I do every day I run and that is your identity. You’re signifi significantly more likely to run every day than if you see this as like, I’m gonna. Try running. I’m gonna pick up running for a little while. This is [00:11:00] what happens with New Year’s resolutions. We set this idea into motion that we could just try something out, or we are gonna do some kind of action or change a behavior.

We never really think about the identity of the person who would sustain that behavior. So running, you have to start thinking like a runner. How does a runner warm up? How does a runner think about their day, about their plans, about their schedule, about their gear, their recovery time, the stretching? All those things don’t come from a place of I’m gonna try running.

They come from a place of like, no, I am a runner. This is part of my identity. And it may not feel natural at first at all. It’s living into that and starting to adapt the thoughts of someone who might be a runner. If it’s hard for you to come up with these answers, ’cause you’ve never been a runner. Let’s say look for people that you know who are [00:12:00] runners, um, let’s say use in bolt for the sake of it.

How would in his prime time or as he was younger. How did he think about his stay, about his plan? Uh, maybe it’s someone in your closer environment that you think, okay, there may be a little bit more relatable than using Bolt. What does this person do?

How do they think about running? And I’m using running ’cause it’s relatable. But you also have the exact same questions and it’s the same concept. Whether that is a position that you’re trying to get promoted into, maybe a leadership position, maybe a director role, a VP role.

Maybe you wanna build something on the side, maybe it’s some other kind of habit or you wanna change your job, whatever that may be. Think about the people who do this and how do they think, how do they go about their day? That is what you want to start to bring closer to your own identity so that you’re shifting that identity.

And once you have your [00:13:00] identity and this becomes fairly clear, then we’re moving on to the next step, and that is to pick three goals that are proof of that identity. But again, not the identity itself, it’s just proof. So for example, I know that many listeners of this podcast are either, you know, new managers or they’re stepping into bigger, more senior leadership roles.

So let’s say you want to become a director. So we’re not just saying like, oh, I want to become a director, and that is the goal. That’s nice, but not really helpful. Instead, if you think about building the identity, now we’re asking ourself, okay,

as a director when you’re in a leadership meeting and someone challenges your team’s priorities, let’s say, how do you respond? What would it feel like inside? How do you handle pushback from a peer? What is the type of work that you wanna do? How do you contribute to the organization in terms of increased revenue, efficiency or [00:14:00] cost saving to actually deserve that director title, and how do you need to think in order to achieve that value add and deliver those contributions?

So get really familiar with this version of you and their way of thinking, feeling, and acting. Because you can’t really fake it from the inside out. I’m gonna really hone in on this, trying to memorize the right sentences without actually seeing yourself as that person feels hollow. It’s often also not sustainable.

It might work for a conversation or two, but then we are gonna revert back to our own identity, or it just starts to feel somewhat disconnected and misaligned. So it is both. A behavioral change as well as doing this inside work when the two come together, this is way more effective than just changing behaviors.

So again, going back to those goals. Choose goals that prove you are operating as a director. This could be, Hey, by the end [00:15:00] of the year, I will freely speak my opinions, even if they are counter to what the entire group in the room thinks. Then I will know I’m operating at the director level. Two. I tend to get buy-in for my ideas, not just from my team.

Peers are my direct managers, but also from senior leaders due to my ability to influence and practice strong executive communication. So by year end, if I look at all the different ideas or or projects that I wanted to initiate, how often did I get the buy-in? Is that overwhelmingly I did, yes. Succeeded or did I get shut down or people didn’t really wanna buy into it or there was more of, um, okay, I’m going to do because you’re my boss and told me so, or because it actually inspired us to all wanting to achieve a goal.

That’s something that we can measure or fairly accurately assess, adhere end and then third, let’s use this value add, uh, idea. I add a massive [00:16:00] amount of value to my organization by thinking outside the box, finding opportunities to reduce costs, increase revenue or optimize efficiency.

Can I at year end measure and demonstrate that I’ve initiated these projects, that I’ve achieved those goals or those targets that I just laid out? At year end, if I check the box on all of these three goals, I am now operating as a director, whether I have the title or not. Whether you get the title and the promotion is less important because it’s not fully in your control, but how you think, how you feel, and how you act, that is a hundred percent in your control.

And if that’s in alignment with how someone as a director would operate, then your promotion either inside that organization or elsewhere is inevitable. Okay, so that’s one, the identity shift that needs to happen in alignment with the goals that you’re trying to achieve. And with [00:17:00] that, let’s now move to the second point and here is where we get a little ancient, okay. The stoics had this practice that was about premeditating. Evils, so to speak, and I know it sounds intense, but it’s not about being negative. It’s about rehearsing setbacks so that they don’t destroy you.

When they show up in many organizations or teams, they now call this running a pre-mortem. And really the idea is simple. You assume the plan that you’re, you know, embarking on or trying to execute didn’t work. So what if all this failed? What if I wasn’t gonna accomplish my goals? And then you list the most likely reasons why not to be dramatic.

Not to spiral, but to surface the predictable friction points early, to address time constraints, shifting priorities, resourcing gaps, energy dips that we might have, or resistance [00:18:00] from stakeholders. And then when you identify those risks and you turn those into safeguards and responses so that the plan is built for reality.

This is also a point that Jim Collins makes in his book, good To Great. The most successful CEOs were not better at predicting the future. They were better prepared for. And research backs up, why this works as well. People are more likely to follow through when they decide in advance what they’ll do in common, like derailment moments, in fancy academic terms.

This is called the implementation intentions, but it’s really just making a simple rule for yourself that if X happens, I will do y. Same mid planning prompts. When people get specific about when and how they’ll take action, they’ll be more likely to actually do it. So if you make a plan, you are way more [00:19:00] likely to actually execute it than if you don’t.

And that includes the plan B and plan C, the worst case scenario plan, not just the best case plan. And now here’s one more bonus. Making a concrete plan also reduces sort of the intrusive, anxious thoughts about unfinished goals, or what if scenarios.

It frees up mental space and you are not walking around anxious about, you know, the thing that you haven’t done yet or what might happen because you already planned for it. And this is important if you tend to feel anxious about work or life in general. Okay, let’s do this together. I am gonna walk you through a short pre modem. Imagine it’s October, 2026 and your biggest goal for this year failed.

It didn’t happen. Now I’m gonna ask you, what was the goal that you thought about? So if the biggest goal failed, what’s the first goal that comes to mind? [00:20:00] Just write down that goal and then write down five reasons why.

Don’t edit yourself. If it sounds like odd or weird, don’t worry about it. Just write down five reasons for why this goal might fail. And then once you have that, the next step, or step number three is to circle the three most likely reasons. The ones that, if you’re honest, you can actually kind of see happening. Okay. Step four is then for each of those three that you chose, choose one.

Prevention, preventive action, and one recovery action. So prevention is what can you do now to make this less likely? And recovery is, if it happens anyway, what’s going to be your move? So write this down. I’m gonna quickly recap one, think about your biggest goal. Two, write down five reasons why this might fail.

Three, circle the top three reasons [00:21:00] why that goal might fail. And then for each of those three, write down a preventive action, something you can do to reduce the likelihood of this happening. And then second, a recovery action. Something that you can do if it still does happen.

If you actually just went through this, you did something that most people never do. You are not just prepared because you planned and you set goals, but you prepared for reality for the things that actually are not gonna work out as nicely as you put them on paper. You, this is what we call being prepared.

And again, going back to Jim Collins, the CEOs that were actually successful and created. Great, not just good companies. Were all the ones that were prepared way more so for all the different scenarios than those that weren’t. And if we imagine that we are the CEOs of our own lives, it is our responsibility if you wanna have a good life to do exactly that.[00:22:00] 

Okay, now let’s bring it all together and combine it with the identity shift we just discussed earlier. So if you merge the two, we start off describing your new identity and give it a name. Right. Really get clear of Ramona 3.0. How does she thinks? How does she feel? What does she do? How does she make decision?

How does she treat people? How is she engaged with family? Even stuff like this, how does she work out? All those different things, like get really clear on who that is, that identity that you have for yourself. Then pick three proof goals, things that demonstrate the identity and then you move into the whole pre-mortem conversation where you look at your biggest goals and you look at what might be the risks that get in the way and how to address them. Now if you stuck with me until now and you are actually doing this exercise, whether this is now or you’re committed to doing this sometime later today, early this week, that’s amazing.

[00:23:00] You’re actually getting started and you’re doing way more than most people. But it’s not the end of it, right? This whole thing is going to standard or fall based on how often you will review it. So reading your identity and your pre-mortem plan weekly is key, and it doesn’t need to take a long time. It might be a minute, like, I like to put a reminder in my calendar, or you could put a prompt on your phone to send you a reminder every, let’s say Sunday night, every Monday to read that plane again,

one minute each week. Now, to really hone this in, I thought I’m gonna share a couple of stories with you here. So first I’m gonna tell you about Marcus. Marcus is a product manager. He made. A really good plan. he showed me sort of a, again, chart. He had dependencies for a project.

All of it, uh, was really well laid out, but he ignored constraints. So he was confident with what he was trying to achieve at which timeline and wal whatnot, for his product [00:24:00] launch. And of course the quick side note, every time I refer to a client, I do change things including the name to ensure anonymity. Okay? So he, um, ignored constraints. He assumed what so many people do that his team would stay intact. So his plan was all based on the team members that he currently have, and he anticipate they would sort of stay with him throughout this project.

He also assumed that stakeholders would all be aligned because he was so convinced, that this project was, really important. He got a lot of buy-in, already had a lot of conversations.

And so in some, he assumed that no one would leave, no one would get sick, and no priorities would shift. And so six months in the whole thing fell apart. Not because he was bad at the job, but because he planned for the best case scenario, he did not think about what might happen. Think about your team. If you’re leading a team right now, if especially in the US, where someone could basically resign [00:25:00] and walk out the same day the risk that your team or your organization carries with this is crazy.

So if you don’t anticipate that someone might resign on your team and how that’s gonna impact workload, the rest of the team, your project, where are those sensitive areas, those risks? That is what we wanna address early on. So in Marcus’s case. He then did a pre-mortem for that next phase of his project.

He added buffers. He made if then plans for the three sort of most likely disasters or risks. And this time he was able to communicate better and more transparently with stakeholders and his team. He was able to address the risks in way more detail. ’cause he actually thought about it.

He was able to secure resources just in case, which he actually ended up not needing, but he had them on the side because he knew if another team member was to leave, he would have an issue. He wouldn’t be able to deliver on time. So he made sure that he had a backup plan in [00:26:00] place.

Not only did that help him in the execution. It also made him appear a lot more like a leader, right? He showed up like a leader. People saw his foresight, his preparation, and considered that to be leadership skills. He also adapted to change so much quicker and stayed calmer through the process. ’cause in his mind, he already played out, those scenarios.

A different example is Jennifer. She’s a new director and she did the identity work first. She wrote out who she wanted to be, she looked at her goal list and realized that she had like 15 different goals, 15 things she wanted to do.

In our conversation, asked her the question, which of those 15 goals, things that she wanted to do would actually matter to this new identity, to this new persona, right?

That she’s trying to become this director level persona. It was actually only three goals. That [00:27:00] mattered to who she wanted to be. Now of course, there were some things were a bit of gray zone. We weren’t quite sure, but many of them were Obligations from the past were not relevant to her new identity, but were important for her older identity, it was not worth her time.

To spend on this. And she had to practice to say no to things that are nice to have, things that she liked to do, things that she used to do, but would be distractions. And the person she wants to become would absolutely and certainly say no to those things, or would say yes, but with a tweak or only half of that.

Not in the full capacity, but only to a smaller extent I can, you know, engage or help. But would it negotiate their commitment to this project or effort, not just say yes. So when we change that identity to look at what are all the things that we’re doing that are actually no longer in [00:28:00] alignment with this new identity, that’s part of sort of the pruning process as well.

When she did that and she realized like all these nice goals that excited her that she liked, but they actually weren’t in alignment with her pursuit to really become that and live as that successful director. She shed a bunch. She started saying no to things that were distractions, and she became a lot more consistent with the things she was actually supposed to do.

Her team noticed, and her boss noticed, and at the end of the year, she hit all of those three goals and delivered great value as a director. In her first year. And to her the most fulfilling part was really seeing how she became the leader she wanted to be, and she realized she needed to be, even if this whole pruning process was really hard.

And so both this example of shifting the identity to really live into this new persona as well as preparing for worst case scenarios and doing those [00:29:00] pre-mortems are two things that are. Critically important to achieving goals. In 2026. So in a one liner set goals, but win the year by designing your identity and rehearsing those obstacles. I hope you found this helpful as we kickstart the new year, we will continue as we have for the last few years to release a new episode. Every single Tuesday. If you found this helpful and you wanna share this with a friend, please do so. It helps us grow and reach more people

who are looking to become more confident and competent leaders. Thanks so much, for tuning in for hopefully doing the work and taking this as some food for thought when you think about your Q1 or full year 2026 goals. . And with that, that’s a wrap. We’ll be back next Tuesday. Bye for now.

If you enjoy this episode, then check out two other awesome resources to help you become a leader. People love to work with. This includes a free master class on how to successfully [00:30:00] lead as a new manager. Check it out@ourcova.org forward slash masterclass. 

The second resource is my best-selling book, the confident and competent new manager, how to quickly rise to success in your first leadership role. Check it out at our cova.org/books or head on over to Amazon and grab your copy there. 

You can find all those links

In the show notes down below.

Reflection & Discussion Questions:

1. Why is it important for leaders to invest in their leadership growth?
2. How does investing in leadership development contribute to job advancement and salary increases?
3. What are some potential consequences of neglecting your leadership development?
4. How can you recognize and address your blind spots?
5. What role does ongoing leadership development play in creating fulfilling work environments?