A few years back I created a simple, one-page coaching tool for helping people to be more intentional in their professional development. It’s simply called S.C.O.R.E., and here’s the meaning behind the acronym:
S = Self-Awareness
CO = Competencies
RE = Relationships
So what does it mean and why does “keeping S.C.O.R.E. matter?
Self-Awareness. Who are the people in your life who can effectively and objectively note your blind spots and where you’re still a little “rough around the edges?” How easily do you embrace their feedback? Furthermore, what books, resources and tools are you consuming to continuously position yourself for fresh insights and new ways of thinking outside of the box? This is a lifelong process, and it’s often painfully obvious when someone is in a place of arrested self-awareness.
Competencies. What are your core strengths, and how are you regularly nourishing them? Have you embraced formal systems for assessing these strengths—such as going through Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), StrengthsFinder, DiSC, etc.—and do you have a relevant, updated action plan for orchestrating all of your key activities around these strengths? How do others perceive your competencies? How do they perceive your opportunities?
Relationships: Finally, with whom do you surround yourself? What is their state of mind—positive or negative, encouraging or tearing down? What competencies do they possess, which networks or industries do they represent—and who do you need to meet or spend more time getting to know? Do you have a system in place for regularly developing vital relationships?
This process is easy enough to fit on a single page and update on a regular basis. Try keeping S.C.O.R.E. and see what results you achieve!
