How to Set Goals: Tips COO Facebook Cheryl Sandberg
Alexandra Savina
In abundance of tips on how to better build a career and succeed in the professional field, easy to get lost. In the new section, we propose to focus on the advice of famous people and explain why they should listen. The first issue is COO Facebook Cheryl Sandberg.
It is not necessary to have a clear plan of action for the next few years.
In the arsenal of Sheryl Sandberg there are business tips for all occasions and for a variety of situations. Sandberg is the author of the famous book “Do not be afraid to act. Woman, work and will to leadership”, in which she tells how a woman can succeed in a world dominated by men.
When asked what advice she would like to give herself at the beginning of her career, Sandberg says that, thinking about the future, it is very important not to limit yourself to choosing. She believes that because of the habit of not retreating from the intended plan by a single step, we can miss good opportunities - and that success can be achieved in different ways. COO Facebook doesn’t compare its career with the bottom-up staircase, but with the cobweb from the playground: when she looks back, it’s hard to see which way she ended up where she is now.
Sheryl Sandberg believes that it is not necessary to have a clear plan of action for the next few years - instead, she advises to set herself two big goals, to achieve which you need to work in parallel. The first is a “long-term” dream: “It doesn't have to be realistic or clear. For example, you can decide that you want to work in a particular area, travel the world, or have more free time. Even a fuzzy goal can give you direction, which should evolve, "she says. The second goal to be set is a plan for the next 18 months. “Decide what you want to learn in the next year and a half,” says Sandberg. “Ask yourself what you can improve and what you are afraid to do - as a rule, this is exactly what you should try.”
In the modern world, a career is most often built nonlinearly, and the concept of “work for life” seems outdated. To use only traditional principles that were effective for the generation of our parents was to limit ourselves and deprive ourselves of many possibilities. Of course, to achieve success without setting certain goals in front of you is impossible - it is impossible to move forward without determining the direction of movement. But if you are not ready to change your strategy and planned plan from time to time, there is always a chance that you will be disappointed if you cannot achieve your goal, or, having achieved it, you will understand that you didn’t get what you needed.
To experience the pleasure of the process of work is more important than throwing all the forces in pursuit of the result. Therefore, long-term planning is so important - it is important to take into account how your professional goals relate to your other desires — for example, the desire to travel (both for work and for yourself), to work out of the office or start a family. Unfortunately, we do not always think about how our current work is combined with our long-term plans and dreams - and how we should act if we want to change the situation. How you want to build your life as a whole will help determine your career.
Illustration: Dasha Chertanova