S9: E21

Set Intentional Objectives: How to Drive Your Career, Not Ride Shotgun

If you’re winging it with vague goals (or whatever your manager “cascaded” down), you’re driving your career with a blindfold on. Felicia breaks down what objectives really are, why they’re the engine of promotions and pay, and how to use them to drive your internal reputation, not just fill a form for HR. You’ll learn the differences between KPIs, OKRs, and MBOs, plus how to turn objectives into your personal brand soundbite all year long.

Key Takeaways in this Episode: Understand the Power of Objectives: Learn why objectives aren’t just corporate busywork, and how they’re your GPS for navigating your career and controlling your professional narrative. Differentiate Between KPIs and OKRs: Get clear on the two main types of workplace objectives and how to use each one to measure progress, demonstrate impact, and make your results undeniable. Own Your Career Story: Stop letting cascading goals define you. Use your objectives to highlight your unique strengths, achievements, and the value you bring to the organization. Use Objectives as a Career Strategy Tool: Treat your objectives as more than yearly tasks. Use them to drive conversations about growth, promotion, and alignment with your long-term goals. Quantify Your Wins: Replace vague deliverables with measurable outcomes that show how you make or save the company money, removing subjectivity from your performance review. Stay Consistent and Visible: Revisit your objectives throughout the year, track progress, and talk about them often so decision-makers associate you with results, not just effort.

Time Stamps:

• 00:00 – “You’re in the driver’s seat” intro: objectives as your career GPS
• 00:01:12 – Why everyone moans about objectives, and why that’s holding you back
• 00:02:53 – Objectives as cheat codes: stop button-mashing your career
• 00:05:52 – Tools break: FMLA & Quiet Firing guides (Stand Store)
• 00:07:03 – Definitions: what objectives are (specific, measurable, time-bound)
• 00:09:30 – KPIs: the concrete scorecard (make/save $$, track progress)
• 00:13:11 – OKRs: objective + key results for longer plays like awareness growth
• 00:14:53 – MBOs: cascade goals (how to avoid getting buried by your boss’s goals)
• 00:17:47 – Using objectives to craft your personal brand (your soundbite)
• 00:19:19 – Example soundbite: tie goals to top-line revenue and repeat everywhere
• 00:21:12 – Biggest takeaway: objectives = story, strategy, receipts
• 00:22:58 – What’s next: Part 2 on how to actually write winning objectives

Resources & Next Steps:

• FMLA Leave & Retaliation Tracker – Protect your job before and after leave. Document retaliation, track every move, and get paid if they play dirty.
• Career Coaching with Felicia – Book a personalized strategy session.
• Listener Letters – Send your questions to ask@trillmba.com (subject: “Listener Letter”).
• Subscribe & Leave a Review – Subscribe on YouTube and drop a comment to help us grow.
• Follow @TrillMBAshow – Stay updated on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Until next time, keep it trill!

Editing and Sound Design by Chris Mann of Podshaper