Goal setting and accountability are fundamental pillars of personal and professional success. However, creating effective systems and holding yourself accountable can often feel challenging. While there's no shortage of advice available online, much of it can seem impractical or out of touch—often shaped by celebrity experiences or predominantly male perspectives.
This leaves a gap in actionable insights that truly resonate with and address the unique experiences and challenges faced by women.
To gain practical insights, we turned to VEST member Michelle Brobston, Chief Operations Officer at Hunger Free Oklahoma and an expert in designing operations and accountability systems.
We asked Michelle how she sets herself up for success, and here’s what she shared.
Q&A with VEST Member Michelle Brobston
What tools or methods do you rely on to set and track your personal and professional goals for the year? How have these methods evolved over time?
I used to keep my list on a word document and would print it out – add to it by hand and when it got too cluttered, update my word document again and print a clean copy. I would print it landscape with 2 pages on one side of the page. Once I printed a clean copy, I would file the old one away in my “brain file” for future reference/safe keeping/to remind me how busy I had been. This worked right up until April 2020. Not only did I no longer have easy access to a printer, I also had so many moving parts I couldn’t keep up! My handwritten notes vastly outnumbered my printed items. I needed something more flexible in real time.
Now I am a huge fan of SmartSheet to track my “TO DO” list digitally. I have also had some success using apps – Noom app for weight loss (super great while I was using it!), the Apple Reminder app (especially for home items). Currently testing out the HelloHabit app this year to help me be more intentional about a few things (you can track 5 habits for free) – I am tracking water intake, step count, times I sit down to do my current creative outlet (watercolor painting), personal reading, and professional reading. Six days in and I am like it so far!
For goals (be it annual, monthly) I write them out and post them where I can see them every day. Current professional habit focus for the year: 1. Ask for help from experts, and, 2. Tell them the problem instead of suggesting a solution. For this one I wrote the following text out and posted it right next to my computer and that of the person I work most closely with so they can also ask me! “Who could I ask for help/input/advice in this situation? Someone internal? Someone external?” So far it has been a game changer! I didn’t expect it to save me as much time as it has! We (really me!) have been terrible about utilizing our vendors for their expertise. Its like we think we are the experts in everything! Luckily we had a few gently humbling situations in December that reminded us we are not actually experts in the payroll software, 401k administration fine print, complex computer issues… Here’s to a more efficient 2025!
How do you balance your own goals with the responsibilities of helping your team members achieve theirs? What strategies have worked best for fostering mutual success?
One of my goals has always been to set people up for success. Which means the line between achieving my goal and helping them achieve theirs is pretty non-existent. Each day I identify 2-3 things that have to get done from my own list – and no matter what comes up, my day ends with them complete. (Probably successful about 95% of the time. But I try to think of it as non-negotiable so that I have less options for procrastination.) As for helping others achieve their goals, I find guiding questions really helpful in coaching. Here are a few of my current favorites:
“What is the problem we are trying to solve?”
“What information would make the next step obvious?”
“Even though the decision may be clear to us, who might we get another perspective from that could help us see our blind spots?
“Do we know this issue is the root cause of the problem?”
Can you share an example of a goal you set in the past that required significant accountability? What steps did you take to ensure you stayed on track?
Hunger Free Oklahoma was created under a fiscal sponsorship arrangement meaning most (practically all!) of our back-office responsibilities were covered by the fiscal sponsor – accounting, auditing, HR, payroll, benefits administration, 401K… In 2022 we applied for our own 501c3 status and the goal was to move everything from the fiscal sponsor to the new Hunger Free Oklahoma, Inc on December 24, 2022, including our 32 employees.
Leading up to that date, and after it, we had to build a ton of infrastructure. We needed our own financial policies, employee policies, bank accounts, governance, leases, software licenses, and vendors (payroll, benefits, 401K), and, of course, to figure out how to accept donations directly…you get the picture. For about the 15 months prior I amassed a list of everything we could think of we were going to need to change, create, or remove. All of these were kept in a list in SmartSheet – a platform that we use for project management and where I could easily assign dates and owners (mostly me) and create automated reminders to keep us on track. I also added new tasks/projects/surprises to the list as they came up. At our weekly leadership team meeting, the “separation” was a standing item and we would review status and what new adventure was coming next. Three years later there are about 2 things left on the list of 242 – both of which are inconsequential, obviously.
When you encounter setbacks or unexpected challenges, how do you adjust your plans while maintaining momentum and focus?
In the moment I don’t waste time on why we are where we are in this mess – I focus on defining the mess we are in and generating/collecting solutions that get us back on track toward the goal. After the crisis/challenge has passed, I do appreciate creating an opportunity debrief to figure out what we could do to prevent the situation for next time. I don’t dwell on the cause, but use it to inform the future. What have we learned from this experience that we can add to our toolbox?
What role does community or mentorship play in your planning and accountability process? How do you seek and offer support?
I am terrible at making time for this one. I love the idea of regular community and mentorship. I see amazing potential in it (from other people’s stories or social media posts). But I don’t know if it is something I don’t need on a regular basis, or if I am still looking for my sweet spot.
As for now, I am extremely internally motivated, so between myself, my family, and my imaginary mentor (based on all the lessons I have learned from real-life people in the past) – I haven’t made time for regular and ongoing professional community. That said – I have made an effort recently to meet people for coffee and hear about the lessons they learned to get them where they are. I also have a few people I meet up with a couple times a year.
Let’s just add this to an area for improvement!
If you could give one piece of advice to someone struggling to juggle their own priorities while supporting others, what would it be?
Protect your time. To do this, I set appointments with myself on my calendar. I have 5 hours a week of “Michelle Time” blocked out and ALL afternoon on Fridays. I can use them any way I want to – which sometimes means to support others – but I have enough time blocked off I can catch up and find some breathing room throughout the week. Sometimes I get up and walk around the block, sometimes I move to a comfy chair and read a book on leadership development, sometimes I finish the week at the taproom, and sometimes I work right through it – but by my own intentional choice.
Michelle Brobston's expertise in designing effective operations and accountability systems offers invaluable insights for anyone looking to set meaningful goals and achieve them. By sharing her strategies, she reminds us that success is built on intentional planning, consistent effort, and systems that reflect our unique needs.
If you’d like to learn more from Michelle, connect with her on LinkedIn, better yet if you are a VEST Member, reach out to her on the app —her experience and wisdom are resources worth tapping into!