New Year’s resolution season has passed, but it’s still early enough in 2020 for people to feel excited or open to “new year” changes. After all, January is often about catching up and closing out any lingering business from the previous year. By late February, teams are finally ready to finalize action on their plans for the year ahead.
As a leader, it’s important to seize that first-of-the-year momentum while it lasts and use it to push yourself and your teams toward meaningful, positive change. To help you, we asked the members of Forbes Coaches Council how to do just that.
** See my recommendation #9 for how to Be Intentional And Focus. **
1. Identify And Focus On What Will Make A Big Impact
Kicking off the new year with some new goals (and energy) is always a good idea. A new calendar year can act as a catalyst to create or re-boot your vision and goals, and get some things into action, whether it’s ramping up your leadership voice or confronting a difficult situation. Take advantage of the new year’s energy to focus on what is truly important, and if done differently, will make a big impact in your life. – Susan Sadler, Sadler Communications LLC
2. Look For Needed Changes
Leaders should look for the lessons: Inquire and reflect on what their organization is doing well, what it can do better and then decide on the way forward. Invite the team to take ownership of the kind of change they want. Finally, look for needed changes in culture. Is your culture enabling a thinking environment? Is it open, inviting, compassionate and mindful? Do you use developmental dialogues on a daily basis? – Angelos Derlopas, Positivity Coaching
3. Brainstorm With The Team To Develop Company-Wide Resolutions
Leaders can tap into the energy of the first of the year by engaging employees as individual change agents. Capitalize on the tradition of establishing resolutions by encouraging employees to broaden their scope. Instead of individual new year’s resolutions, how about developing some organizational new year’s resolutions. These can be as simple as implementing a new recycling program to developing an entirely new product line. Facilitate brainstorming sessions and have some fun with it. – Cheryl Czach, Cheryl Czach Coaching and Consulting, LLC
4. Reset 1:1s By Asking The Right Questions
It’s easy as weeks pass for regularly scheduled meetings to slowly lose effectiveness, addressing what’s top-of-mind, rather than more strategic conversations. To refocus, ask questions like these: What patterns or trends are you seeing with your team, our department or our company? What would it take for us to level up our effectiveness? To what extent are you—or we as a department or company—reaching our potential and what is holding you or us back? – Miriam Meima, 2M Leaders
5. Improve Your Mindset
A leader is only as strong as their mindset. Focus on your mindset and growth will become easy. – Doug Holt, Doug Holt Online
6. Set Your Intentions For How You Want To Show Up
Many create resolutions, or actions they’d like to take in the new year (the “what”). These often fall by the wayside, unachieved. Leaders can instead set an intention for the year—in other words, how they want to show up in their professional and personal lives. This provides the behavioral foundation for any goals they’d like to accomplish. Our thoughts and behaviors usually dictate our actions. – Patricia Carl, Highland Performance Solutions, LLC
7. Figure Out What’s Most Important To You Right Now
They can take advantage of this by taking some time to connect to who they are and what’s important to them right now. Where have they fallen off track and followed the crowd instead of their intuition? What projects need to be taken off the table? Which ones need to be recommitted to? What are the top two to three projects they want to work on (through to completion) right now? – Denise Csaky, The Firefly Moment LLC
8. Recognize And Appreciate Small Changes
Leaders can seize the moment and start appreciating more. When their employees show the slightest change—be it a new hobby, a new look, a new approach, a new skill or new learning—it should be immediately recognized and appreciated. This will encourage them to continue with the change and bring about an environment of engagement among the team. The more an employee feels valued, the more they are engaged with the leader and the organization. – Pritha Dubey, Success Vitamin
9. Be Intentional And Focus
Leaders are trying to do too many things and are not doing them all at the same level of expertise. Research shows there is no such thing as multitasking. Taking the time to slow down, reflect and focus on the single biggest lever or area you can make the greatest impact will help you reach your goals and make positive change. Intentional leaders get more done, make better decisions and lead teams that are more focused on the right things, thereby making them more productive. – Shelley Hammell, Sage Alliance, Inc.
10. Identify Root Causes Of Challenges
In order to drive meaningful and sustainable change, first we need to understand entire systems behind the problems facing organizations and its leaders. Leaders should talk to key stakeholders across areas of the organization to better understand root causes of challenges and then be strategic in mapping out opportunities for change management implementation. – Jonathan Westover, Human Capital Innovations, LLC
11. Build Your Story For The Year
Leaders can take advantage of the new year by answering these questions. In looking back at 2019, what would you name it as a chapter in your heroic story? In declaring the hunt for 2020, what are you choosing to name it and how does this name make your goals feel more personal and tangible? In mapping the terrain 2020 will be played on, what is your top obstacle; and what is your top resource? In preparing for the unknown that is destined to arise, what is the one token of advice you will keep in mind? – Corey Castillo, Truth & Spears
SAGE Alliance, a Leadership Performance Company; provides executive coaching, team-building, industry leading assessments, workshops and speaking on topics including: building a high-performing team through coaching, developing and optimizing your top talent, delivering commanding communications, creating a lasting impression, making a greater impact through personal branding for executives and high-potentials – for both team and individual leaders.
Shelley Hammell, is the president, CEO and author of You Think You’re Coaching, But You’re Not! available HERE, and is available for book signings and speaking engagements.