March 2021 — In Service: The Column of the ADRP President

Keri Kallaway
Senior Director, Donor Relations and Gift Services
Children's Hospital Colorado Foundation

Dear fellow ADRPers,

The theme of this month’s Hub is Milestones. I’m not sure about you, but sometimes when I think of setting goals or milestones—personal or professional—I feel overwhelmed. However, when I spend intentional, focused time for this work and I reach a milestone, I feel proud and accomplished. Feeling this sense of accomplishment is certainly motivation for continuing to remain goal-oriented.

I recently read this article that outlines eight steps for defining milestones for yourself. Although the steps outlined may seem simple and obvious, I found this read helpful because sometimes setting goals or developing plans to reach milestones may seem daunting. After reading the author’s guiding recommendations, setting goals and defining milestones seemed clear and, dare I say, exciting!

I want to highlight one tip from the article mentioned above, Tip 9: Get an Accountability Partner. I’ve spent a lot of time over the past couple of years integrating accountability into my work and home life. One step I have found to be helpful in the past and continue to find extremely helpful is having an accountability partner. Someone to touch base with, talk through obstacles, celebrate wins, and level set realistic expectations of myself and others.

I ask all of you, what are the steps you take to define milestones? For those of you who manage a team, do you schedule focused time with your individual team members to help them and do you set team goals and milestones together? How do you measure progress and stay motivated?

I challenge you to define three milestones for yourself and set goals for each that you see accomplishing by the end of 2021. They can be personal or professional. And most importantly, think about how you will celebrate your success. I also invite you to reach out to the ADRP community  if you feel we can be helpful. We are here to support one another!

Yours in gratitude,

Keri Kallaway