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Welcome to the new Manager 
podcast. 

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I'm your host, Kim Nichol. 
Hello and welcome. 

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I'm glad you're here and I hope 
you're doing well. 

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I have been noticing I've 
started to get more listeners 

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from Canada and so I want to 
welcome you. 

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I'm specifically, I've got quite
a number of new followers 

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listening from Ontario. 
So hello to you there. 

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But we also have Quebec 
represented. 

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After that we have British 
Columbia and Alberta and then a 

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few folks listening in from 
Manitoba, also Saskatchewan, 

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Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. 
There are a handful of you out 

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there and so I just want to say 
hello and welcome and I'm glad 

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you're here. 
You know, one thing I really 

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have been appreciating in the 
work that I do with folks is how

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common challenges are when it 
comes to managing people. 

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It really is an industry 
agnostic kind of thing. 

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In the course that I was just 
teaching, you know, everyone in 

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that in that course worked in a 
different industry and even in a

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different size of organization. 
And yet, you know, the questions

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they were asking and what they 
were hearing each other share, 

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there was so much connection and
recognition like, oh, thank 

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goodness it's not just me or you
know, I'm not the only one. 

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You know, everyone is asking 
questions around how do I know 

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if I'm doing a good job? 
What do I do if I need to give 

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feedback to somebody? 
How do I know like the right way

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to manage my manager and do one 
on ones or how to schedule and 

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plan for performance review 
conversations. 

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And so I think it's just super 
interesting to notice how no 

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matter where you're at, it can 
feel very lonely. 

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Very slated and yet you are not 
alone. 

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I promise you that there are so 
many others who are asking 

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really similar questions and one
of the things I found too, you 

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know, is when you care a lot 
like you care about doing a good

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job, you care about being a fair
manager, a good manager. 

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You want to, you know, step into
this leadership role. 

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There's not like a a a clear 
road map. 

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It can feel a little bit rocky 
sometimes. 

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And if you got that inner voice 
that says, am I doing this 

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right? 
I'm not sure what success looks 

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like, then you've come to the 
right place. 

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And if you want to get even more
individual support, then you 

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want to come and sign up for my 
next course, which is going to 

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be in January. 
But I tell you, it will come 

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sooner than you know it. 
So go into the show notes to 

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learn more about my course. 
OK, Today let's talk about goals

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and intentions. 
This is something that has been 

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coming up in some of my coaching
conversations. 

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And it also, you know, shows up 
towards the end of the year when

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we're thinking about like, what 
happened this year? 

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What did I accomplish? 
What were my goals? 

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And also as you begin to think 
about 2025 and you will be 

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setting goals for yourself, both
personally in your own career 

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and your life, but also 
professionally and in terms of 

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how you work with your team and 
what the goals are going to be 

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that you will be responsible for
helping to shepherd and navigate

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your team towards. 
And so, you know, one of the 

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things that I've that I've found
that's really helpful in getting

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more clarity and helping to feel
less overwhelmed whenever you 

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are thinking through a challenge
or thinking through something 

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you're trying to make happen on 
your team or through your team, 

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like trying to make something on
your team might be around. 

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I want my team to collaborate 
better. 

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I want them to work better with 
each other, or I want them to 

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work better with me or even, you
know, I want my team to work 

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better with, you know, their 
internal partners or external 

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clients. 
Like something you want for your

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team versus something you want 
through your team, which is when

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you want your team to execute 
tasks specific way to generate a

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particular outcome. 
Like there's a goal that you 

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want to have happen. 
And the way it will happen is by

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working through your team. 
You know, by the way that you 

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communicate and motivate and 
prioritize and organize all of 

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that. 
So goals come top of mind. 

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And then we have intentions. 
Those are a little bit 

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different. 
So with goals, the thing, the 

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question that you can ask 
yourself is what is my goal 

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here? 
And that is the question to ask 

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when you find yourself getting a
bit tangled up in feeling 

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frustrated or overwhelmed or 
trying to think through like, 

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what am I going to say to this 
person or what am I going to do 

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about this situation? 
Take a breath, take a step back,

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look at this bigger picture and 
ask, well, what is my goal here?

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What is the outcome I'm looking 
for? 

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What is the thing I want to have
happen at the end of all this? 

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Like, what is my goal? 
Because depending on what your 

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goal is, that might help clarify
the decisions you want to make 

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in that direction. 
And the other thing is that with

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a goal, there is distance 
between where you are now and 

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where the goal is. 
So as you're thinking about, you

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know, what are the decisions I'm
going to make now, then you will

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make those decisions, follow 
through and put them into 

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ractice or like follow through 
and actually execute on them. 

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Go ahead and do the thing and 
then you will find out, does 

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this get you closer to your goal
or not? 

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And you might need to adjust 
along the way. 

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You might need to update your 
decisions now that you've got 

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more information. 
You might realize, OK, this was 

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the path towards my goal. 
And I'm realizing the more I 

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move towards it, the more I 
realize I need to readjust. 

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I need to adapt, change some 
things. 

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So that goal is distant. 
It's in the future. 

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It's away from you and who you 
are right now. 

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And when you have that goal in 
mind, it can help organize your 

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thinking around how you're going
to move towards that. 

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It can help you focus on what's 
important, you know? 

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So if that's your goal, maybe 
there are some other demands for

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your time and attention, but 
those are not really important 

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right now because they're not in
alignment with the goal. 

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O ask yourself, what's what's 
the goal here? 

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Esecially now that I'm Sea King 
about it, esecially when it 

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comes to giving feedback and 
performance reviews. 

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You know, what's the goal you 
have for this person? 

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Are you trying to, you know, 
build their confidence? 

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Are you trying to, you know, 
reduce friction? 

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Are you trying to build trust? 
Are you trying to change a 

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behavior that you're seeing? 
Are you trying to shift their 

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mindset? 
Are you trying to, you know, get

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them to see how they are part of
the bigger picture and are 

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valued? 
Like, like, what is your goal? 

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And that will help you determine
what kind of feedback you want 

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to give. 
And you know, rather than being 

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like comprehensive, like, I'm 
going to give you all the 

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feedback because I want to be 
very thorough. 

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That is rarely the most useful 
approach because what ends up 

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happening is the person 
receiving comprehensive feedback

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starts to feel overwhelmed, 
maybe just nitpicked on like, I 

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can't believe they picked all 
these things that I'm not doing 

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well, you know, or they can feel
like, oh, I can't do anything 

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right. 
You know, why even bother? 

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And so when you're thinking 
about what is, what is the 

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feedback you're going to give? 
When you think of the context of

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what is the goal? 
What do you want that what do 

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you want to happen as a result 
of giving that feedback that 

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will inform, you know, what you 
decide to communicate and 

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document and why. 
If it's an issue with someone 

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where there's a, you know, maybe
a question about is this still a

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good fit? 
Maybe you've seen some behaviors

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that are concerning and maybe 
you've seen a pattern of just 

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like poor judgment or behaviors 
that are just not OK. 

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So your goal might be around, I 
just need to document things. 

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I just need to create a record 
to document that, you know, 

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we've seen a history of this 
behavior and here are the 

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actions I've taken to try and 
correct or adjust. 

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And they continue to decline 
that invitation over time, 

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right? 
Like depending on what the goal 

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is, that will inform what you 
decide to do. 

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Then we have an intention, and 
an intention is a bit different.

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You can think of the intention 
as a sense of directionality or 

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a sense of activating energy 
that shapes your actions and 

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decisions. 
And one of the biggest 

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differences between the goal and
the intention is that the 

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intention happens right now. 
Your intention might be to be 

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more curious. 
You're being curious right now, 

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you know, in this moment, not in
the future. 

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You're not waiting, you know, to
see if the actions roll up into 

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that thing like we do with the 
goal, with the intention. 

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It's more the sense of what are 
the qualities that I am going to

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bring into this situation or 
conversation or challenge. 

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You can think of it also as what
is the perspective or the 

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mindset. 
You know, my clients will say, 

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you know, I'm I'm going into 
this meeting, It might be a 

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little tense. 
And so my intention is to come 

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with a willingness to hear their
perspective. 

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I want to show up really, as, 
you know, being on their side. 

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I have my clear point of view. 
But you know, my intention is to

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be willing to hear what they 
have to say, what their 

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perspective is, because I, I 
feel like we are on the same 

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team, even though sometimes I 
think we get, we get at odds 

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with each other because, you 
know, we both want to be right 

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about the way that we see 
things. 

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So you can think about, OK, what
is the energy you're going to 

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bring into that situation? 
What is your intention? 

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You can use this too when you 
think about what it means to 

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grow into your leadership self. 
So it might be, you know, my 

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intention is not to show up like
their close friend. 

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My intention is to show up as a 
leader who is really looking out

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for the entire organization. 
Or my intention is to show up as

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the the person who's willing to 
say the hard thing. 

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I can say the hard thing in a 
kind way or from a kind place 

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and the willingness to do that, 
like that's my intention is to 

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show up willing to say the hard 
thing in a kind way, even if you

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know, it makes this person 
uncomfortable or even if you 

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know they, they have a, a 
reaction to it. 

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Think about what is the 
intention that you want to bring

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because you get to activate that
every moment and with intentions

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too. 
They're not black and white. 

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They're not all or nothing. 
The intention that you bring 

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might look different in the 
moment, depending on what's 

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happening with you as a person. 
And that might look like, you 

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know, even if you are tired, 
exhausted, sleep deprived, 

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stress out, whatever else is 
going on in your life that might

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be making it hard to show up as 
your best, you can still choose.

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You know, this is the intention 
I want to bring into these 

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situations. 
Even when maybe I'm feeling like

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I'm at a six out of 10 in terms 
of energy, I'm still going to 

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Orient my intention in this 
direction with this kind of 

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energy. 
And that's what I am going to 

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bring, right? 
And so when you think about what

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your intention is, it can match 
nicely with the goal. 

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But those are two separate 
things. 

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You can feel successful in 
achieving that intention to 

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whatever degree is available to 
you right now, today, in this 

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moment. 
If you're doing hard things, 

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your intention might be to be 
courageous. 

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I'm going to show up with some 
courage today, and I like to 

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remember that the word courage 
includes this word of core of 

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heart, the sense of a 
centeredness, the sense of like 

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that which is central to that 
internal grounding place. 

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And there can be a sense of love
and care. 

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I think often the reason we show
up with courage is because there

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is someone or something that we 
care about. 

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If we didn't care, whatever, we 
wouldn't need to be courageous. 

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We just let it go. 
But when we choose this 

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intention of I'm going to show 
up with some courage today, it 

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can be nice to remember that it 
connects to this element of 

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heart, of caring, of love that 
sits centrally within you just 

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as a person. 
So those are some thoughts as we

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come into this week. 
And it's November now, which, 

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wow, it's November now. 
We're moving towards the end of 

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the year. 
So take some time, you know, as 

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you go through this week, as you
think about what is going on in 

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your personal life, in your work
life, what it means for you to 

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be a leader and a manager. 
What is the goal that you have 

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ahead of you for this coming 
week or this coming season? 

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And what is the intention that 
you will choose to bring to each

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moment? 
Have a think on that. 

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If you want to, you can leave a 
comment in Spotify. 

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It's super cool feature. 
You can leave a comment in the 

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in the episode and share with 
me, you know, what goal or what 

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intention are you choosing or 
working with today. 

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And again, like, thank you so 
much for being here. 

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Being a manager, not always 
easy. 

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Being a human, definitely not 
always easy. 

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And working with humans, 
definitely not always easy. 

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But here we are and I'm glad 
you're here. 

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So thanks for listening and I 
hope you have a really great 

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week. 
Talk to you next time. 

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When you're more effective at 
work, you're happier in your 

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life. 
And when you're happier in your 

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life, you're more effective at 
work. 

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I can help. 
Go to my website, kimnickel.com 

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and sign up for a coaching 
consult. 

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It can get better.