Achieving Success with Outcomes

Please don’t judge me but I remember a Spice Girls song called Wannabe that had the following lyrics that I believe are a great lesson, “So tell me what you want, what you really really want”. I think this is a great lesson because you go through your day not being clear on what you really really want. You start the day unclear on your intention. You pick up the phone to talk to a customer unclear on your intention. You speak to an employee unclear on your intention. This is a real problem because if you’re not clear on your desired end result or your outcomes, then achieving success throughout your day is a crapshoot.

The reality is you do have expectations right now, they’re just not thought out and focused on. Right now your expectations have been formed by past experiences and circumstances, and you’re not really aware of them. Think of all the different interactions you have throughout your day that end up with you just rambling. That’s just one example of mismanaged outcomes.

Truly managing outcomes takes focus and presence because you can’t manage them on cruise control. Taking time when you wake up in the morning to decide what you’ll accomplish in the day is an example of you consciously managing your outcomes. Another example is knowing what your goal is when you’re picking up a phone to call your customer. Getting clear not on what you say, but the desired end result with an employee is yet another example of effectively managing your outcomes.

Let’s say you have an employee that’s on their cell phone too much. You could just do what’s typically done and react to the situation by punishing your employee and belittling them with your tone and anger. Or you could sit down and think to yourself, “What outcome do I want from this engagement? I want the employee to know that I value them, I want them to see why the phone usage is an issue, and I want them to stop using their cell phone.” With this intentional outcome in mind, you’ll approach the situation from a completely different perspective and increase your chances for success a hundred-fold.

Knowing the outcomes you want creates your focus which allows you to handle the situation differently. It will also help you keep from getting overly emotional and reactive. Best of all you’ll notice all areas of your life improving just because you took the time to know what you really really want. Maybe the Spice Girls weren’t so silly after all. Do this and you’ll show the people around you just how AMAZING you are!