Goal setting can be intimidating. Will you set goals you can’t reach? Will you set goals that are too easy and show your executive you’re not ambitious enough? What if your stretch goals distract you from getting your job done?
episode 152 leader assistant podcast

In this episode, I share an excerpt from my audiobook, The Leader Assistant: Four Pillars of a Confident, Game-Changing Assistant, where my friend Jillian Hufnagel wrote about goal setting for executive assistants and administrative professionals.

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CONNECT WITH JILLIAN HUFNAGEL
CONNECT WITH ME (JEREMY BURROWS)
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ABOUT ME 

I’m a longtime executive assistant, international speaker and trainer, founder of The Leader Assistant Community and Premium Membership, author of the #1 Amazon Bestselling book, The Leader Assistant: Four Pillars of a Confident, Game-Changing Assistant, and host of the #1 podcast for assistants – The Leader Assistant Podcast.

I’ve worked with CEOs, professional athletes, Fortune 100 board members, billionaires, pastors—and their assistants—in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors.

I’ve also had the opportunity to speak at administrative professional and executive assistant conferences all over the world, including Hong Kong, Thailand, and Germany.

I’m currently EA to the Founder and CEO of Capacity, a fast-growing artificial intelligence SaaS startup with an AI-powered, support automation platform.

My passion is to help you lead well, resist burnout, and automate before you’re automated.

I live in Kansas City, MO with my amazing wife and 2 boys. My hobbies are podcasting, beer, music, crypto, stocks, and entrepreneurship.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

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<v SPEAKER_2>The Leader Assistant Podcast exists to encourage and challenge assistants to become confident, game-changing leader assistants.

00:00:14.200 –> 00:00:17.820
JEREMY: The Leader Assistant Podcast is brought to you by Goody.

00:00:18.260 –> 00:00:25.520
JEREMY: If you send business gifts to employees, clients, or sales prospects, Goody is a game changer.

00:00:25.960 –> 00:00:32.880
JEREMY: You can send one gift or hundreds at a time without ever worrying about shipping details.

00:00:33.700 –> 00:00:43.360
JEREMY: With Goody, your gift recipients provide all their shipping info, and they can even swap out your gift for another option if they prefer.

00:00:43.860 –> 00:00:48.620
JEREMY: It’s free to start gifting, and you can get a $20 credit when you sign up.

00:00:49.320 –> 00:00:57.460
JEREMY: Oh, and if you mention you heard about Goody from The Leader Assistant Podcast, Goody will add an extra $10 credit to your account.

00:00:58.040 –> 00:01:07.260
JEREMY: So go to leaderassistant.com/goody, that’s G-O-O-D-Y, to start gifting today.

00:01:07.560 –> 00:01:11.180
JEREMY: Again, that’s leaderassistant.com/goody.

00:01:12.540 –> 00:01:29.980
JEREMY: All right, on today’s episode, I’m going to share an excerpt from my audio book, The Leader Assistant, Four Pillars of a Confident, Game-Changing Assistant, and for today’s audio book snippet, we’re going to listen to Chapter 5, which is titled Goals.

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JEREMY: And this one was co-authored or primarily authored by my friend, Jillian Hufnagel.

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JEREMY: So I’m really excited to share this.

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JEREMY: Yeah, it’s a great chapter.

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JEREMY: I know a lot of assistants are talking about performance reviews and OKRs and smart goals and all that fun stuff.

00:01:52.540 –> 00:01:57.040
JEREMY: So I thought it’d be a good time to share this chapter of the book.

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JEREMY: So I hope you enjoy it.

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JEREMY: Check out the show notes at leaderassistant.com/152.

00:02:03.240 –> 00:02:04.260
JEREMY: And we’ll talk to you soon.

00:02:05.540 –> 00:02:09.860
JEREMY: Chapter 15, Goals with Jillian Hufnagel.

00:02:11.480 –> 00:02:20.700
JEREMY: To be a leader as an assistant, you have to be really great at what you do and always support the goals and objectives of your leader and the organization where you work.

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JEREMY: Anna C.

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JEREMY: Executive Assistant in Toronto, Ontario.

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JEREMY: Goal setting during annual performance reviews can be intimidating.

00:02:32.060 –> 00:02:33.840
JEREMY: Will you set goals you can’t reach?

00:02:34.860 –> 00:02:38.820
JEREMY: Will you set goals that are too easy and show your executive you’re not ambitious enough?

00:02:39.960 –> 00:02:42.660
JEREMY: What if your stretch goals distract you from getting your job done?

00:02:44.000 –> 00:02:49.300
JEREMY: During my annual reviews, I used to stare into space and wish for the perfect goals to fall from the sky.

00:02:49.820 –> 00:02:50.840
JEREMY: They never did, by the way.

00:02:51.840 –> 00:02:54.560
JEREMY: Thankfully, I no longer hope for miracles during my reviews.

00:02:55.480 –> 00:03:06.100
JEREMY: Instead, I have tactics to come up with the right goals during my annual review, thanks to my friend, assistant advocate, and goal setting guru, Jillian Hufnagel.

00:03:07.600 –> 00:03:23.060
JEREMY: Jillian has supported executives in startup and established companies across SaaS, healthcare, education, and security for more than 17 years, so she has a unique and valuable vantage point on the topic of goal setting for assistants.

00:03:24.740 –> 00:03:33.560
JEREMY: Jillian graciously allowed me to share her tactics in the book, so get ready to take some notes if you want to become a goal setting and goal crushing leader assistant.

00:03:35.120 –> 00:03:46.120
JEREMY: Goal Setting for Leader Assistants by Jillian Hufnagel True leader assistants own their career development and know how to articulate their value to the organization.

00:03:47.140 –> 00:03:49.020
JEREMY: Here are three keys to doing this.

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JEREMY: 1.

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JEREMY: Set the right goals.

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JEREMY: 2.

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JEREMY: Speak about your work using values-based language.

00:03:58.080 –> 00:03:58.440
JEREMY: 3.

00:03:58.920 –> 00:04:01.220
JEREMY: Master your physical presence and mindset.

00:04:03.760 –> 00:04:03.980
JEREMY: 1.

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JEREMY: Set the right goals.

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JEREMY: For any employee, the right goals check these four boxes.

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JEREMY: They align with your organization’s mission, vision and values.

00:04:17.260 –> 00:04:24.000
JEREMY: They map to the top-level strategic goals, objectives and key results or OKRs of your organization.

00:04:25.260 –> 00:04:26.160
JEREMY: They’re a little scary.

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JEREMY: True growth happens through discomfort.

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JEREMY: Your goals should challenge you beyond your day-to-day cat herding and fire extinguishing.

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JEREMY: They pass the SMART test.

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JEREMY: Specific Is it well defined, clear and unambiguous?

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JEREMY: Measurable Do you have specific criteria to measure your progress toward accomplishing the goal?

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JEREMY: Achievable Can you attain this or is it impossible to achieve?

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JEREMY: Realistic Is it realistic and relevant to your role, scope and responsibilities?

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JEREMY: Time-based Did you clearly define the timeline to complete it?

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JEREMY: If your goals check off the four boxes above, you’re on a path to success.

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JEREMY: But don’t forget, you need buy-in from your executive.

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JEREMY: Speak about your work using values-based language It’s critical to discuss your drafted goals with your executive to obtain buy-in on timelines, resources and budgets, and to gain their commitment to support you where needed.

00:05:42.680 –> 00:05:48.120
JEREMY: Live discussion is always best so you can collaborate on adjustments to your goals in a healthy way.

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JEREMY: Let’s practice how to talk about your hugely valuable work as you execute on your goals and prepare for your next one-on-one or review cycle.

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JEREMY: As you are painfully aware, many of your managers and executives don’t understand what you do all day, and they never will.

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JEREMY: Guess what?

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JEREMY: That’s okay.

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JEREMY: They’re not the assistant.

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JEREMY: That’s your superpower.

00:06:13.020 –> 00:06:19.140
JEREMY: Let’s look at a few ways you can articulate what it means to achieve your goals so you can own your career development.

00:06:20.640 –> 00:06:24.360
JEREMY: Keep the fine balance of being too vague versus too granular.

00:06:25.500 –> 00:06:31.900
JEREMY: Saying, I just get things done, or I always figure it out, is vague and devalues the impact you make.

00:06:32.740 –> 00:06:35.300
JEREMY: Worse, it can lessen people’s perception of you.

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JEREMY: This is not how you own your career development.

00:06:40.660 –> 00:06:47.920
JEREMY: On the flip side, being too granular will likely get you some head nodding, maybe a few eye rolls, or even glazed over faces.

00:06:49.040 –> 00:06:54.260
JEREMY: Your leaders don’t need to hear the 17 steps it took to book a multi-leg international trip.

00:06:55.840 –> 00:07:02.720
JEREMY: What they need to hear is the value you bring to the business in terms they will understand.

00:07:04.100 –> 00:07:08.000
JEREMY: An example of a goal and how to talk to your executive about it.

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JEREMY: Quarterly Goal Scenario Deepen my understanding of our company-wide initiative to increase overall customer satisfaction in our Asia-Pacific region so I can best deploy my executive’s time toward this goal.

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JEREMY: How you talk to your executive about it.

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JEREMY: Sarah, your trip to Asia-Pacific is scheduled for March.

00:07:35.500 –> 00:07:42.000
JEREMY: Your detailed itineraries, visas, customer pre-reads, and trip postmortem are all in your calendar.

00:07:43.700 –> 00:07:46.160
JEREMY: Folder X also has all the documentation.

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JEREMY: You and I have time next week to review the itinerary in detail.

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JEREMY: As you know, better understanding our customer satisfaction program is an important personal growth goal for me this quarter.

00:07:59.500 –> 00:08:05.680
JEREMY: When you meet with the account managers to discuss each customer account for the trip, I intend to listen in on those.

00:08:07.060 –> 00:08:13.040
JEREMY: I will generate a list of any questions I have for you after the sessions to aid in my understanding of our program’s success.

00:08:14.240 –> 00:08:18.760
JEREMY: I will also attend the trip postmortem so we can apply lessons learned to your next trip.

00:08:20.300 –> 00:08:28.940
JEREMY: This scenario details the high value you bring to your executive and company and reminds them you crushed every detail, like you always do.

00:08:30.180 –> 00:08:37.120
JEREMY: You’re owning your goal execution, sharing progress, and driving your executive to support you each step of the way.

00:08:40.300 –> 00:08:43.280
JEREMY: Avoid the task versus outcome trap.

00:08:44.680 –> 00:08:46.500
JEREMY: Tasks are what you did.

00:08:47.420 –> 00:08:50.420
JEREMY: An example of discussing a task sounds like this.

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JEREMY: I organized the supply closet and secured a new break room vendor.

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JEREMY: Articulating the value of the task you accomplished sounds like this.

00:09:01.340 –> 00:09:09.400
JEREMY: I increased efficiency and saved the department money by organizing the supply closet and securing a new vendor for break room service.

00:09:10.460 –> 00:09:11.200
JEREMY: Hear the difference?

00:09:12.980 –> 00:09:15.040
JEREMY: Be prepared and specific.

00:09:16.280 –> 00:09:21.380
JEREMY: When in a one-on-one or review conversation, never ask, how am I doing?

00:09:23.080 –> 00:09:27.780
JEREMY: This question will likely lead to a generic response that’s never specific nor actionable.

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JEREMY: You’ll each walk away feeling as if you just attended a pointless meeting.

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JEREMY: Instead, be proactive.

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JEREMY: Arrive prepared with your list of goals and status to completion.

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JEREMY: You’ll lead the conversation on roadblocks, delays and successes.

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JEREMY: Call out what you’re learning, observing and how you’re growing.

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JEREMY: Don’t hide, sugarcoat or cover up the facts.

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JEREMY: Drive the conversation on gaps in execution due to the lack of budget, resources and time.

00:10:03.340 –> 00:10:08.520
JEREMY: Steer toward a solution by clearly stating what you’ll need to get the goal back on track.

00:10:10.040 –> 00:10:12.680
JEREMY: Ask for specific support to get things unstuck.

00:10:14.460 –> 00:10:19.660
JEREMY: But all of this can’t be achieved if you’re unable to show up in a professional and thoughtful way.

00:10:20.620 –> 00:10:27.860
JEREMY: Let’s take a quick peek at what it looks and feels like to be in a highly effective discussion about your goals and development.

00:10:29.760 –> 00:10:30.140
JEREMY: 3.

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JEREMY: Master your physical presence and mindset.

00:10:34.800 –> 00:10:39.880
JEREMY: The way you present yourself physically will help you feel confident and will invite respect from others.

00:10:40.920 –> 00:10:46.820
JEREMY: Sit tall, chin up, shoulders back, and arms open, even on phone calls.

00:10:48.220 –> 00:10:50.140
JEREMY: It might be awkward at first, but it works.

00:10:51.860 –> 00:10:54.860
JEREMY: Control your body language, tone, and pace.

00:10:56.480 –> 00:11:02.120
JEREMY: Write out what you’re going to say and practice how you’ll say it in front of a mirror or with a mentor.

00:11:03.200 –> 00:11:07.480
JEREMY: Say it a few times out loud to observe where you get stuck or tend to go off topic.

00:11:09.280 –> 00:11:15.020
JEREMY: If helpful, send your executive an email or document in advance outlining your goal progress.

00:11:16.320 –> 00:11:21.080
JEREMY: Ask them to review it and come ready to ask questions and share feedback.

00:11:22.040 –> 00:11:24.120
JEREMY: You’ll also need to master your emotions.

00:11:25.040 –> 00:11:32.020
JEREMY: Get your brain away from the epinephrine, aka adrenaline, loop of fight, flight, or freeze.

00:11:33.460 –> 00:11:41.060
JEREMY: Right before meeting with your leader, practice mindfulness, say a positive mantra, or try a quick meditation.

00:11:42.320 –> 00:11:45.760
JEREMY: Force yourself to slow down and take a deep breath.

00:11:47.660 –> 00:11:53.780
JEREMY: Choose a room and seating arrangement that promotes face-to-face dialogue and open collaboration.

00:11:55.060 –> 00:11:58.040
JEREMY: Have a screen and whiteboard available if needed.

00:11:59.320 –> 00:12:05.340
JEREMY: Bring in a stress ball, fidget spinner, silly putty, or whatever you need to keep yourself even-keeled.

00:12:06.500 –> 00:12:08.980
JEREMY: Ensure you have your executives’ full attention.

00:12:09.940 –> 00:12:13.980
JEREMY: Thank them for their support and dive right into your list of accomplishments.

00:12:16.480 –> 00:12:18.760
JEREMY: Be open to feedback and questions.

00:12:20.200 –> 00:12:27.080
JEREMY: Context and clarity can only enhance your ability to execute and drive toward the right goals and outcomes.

00:12:28.660 –> 00:12:32.380
JEREMY: Ultimately, it’s your career, and you have to own it.

00:12:34.440 –> 00:12:44.000
JEREMY: You now have tactics to set the right goals, speak about your work using values-based language, and master your physical presence and mindset.

00:12:45.140 –> 00:12:48.400
JEREMY: Go forth, crush goals, and lead well.

00:12:50.280 –> 00:12:53.800
JEREMY: I trust Jillian’s tips will be immensely helpful in your career.

00:12:54.800 –> 00:13:08.140
JEREMY: If you’d like to further explore the topic of goal setting, I’ve included links to Jillian’s website, her LinkedIn account, and her free goal setting template at leaderassistantbook.com forward slash bonus.

00:13:09.400 –> 00:13:10.260
JEREMY: Thanks for listening.

00:13:10.280 –> 00:13:15.620
JEREMY: Be sure to check out the show notes at leaderassistant.com/152.

00:13:16.320 –> 00:13:20.200
JEREMY: Also, just another thank you to my sponsor, Goodie.

00:13:20.220 –> 00:13:29.040
JEREMY: You can check out their exclusive gifting platform to help you automate the gifting process at leaderassistant.com/goody.

00:13:44.160 –> 00:13:45.960
<v SPEAKER_2>goburrows.com

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