Who Do You Need To Be?

It's now December and the year 2023 is coming to a close.

How has this year been for you?

Each year at about this time, I sit down with my clients, and we go over results. What strategies worked? Which ones did not? What can we learn from the year gone by?

What was your biggest success in 2023? What would you do differently? What would you change?

It's not all business.

Leaders are humans, too, so we spend time as much time on business as on personal goals. We cover seven areas: Work/Career, Financial, Personal Development, Relationships, Health and fitness, Recreation/Free time, and Community and contribution. For each, on a scale of 1-10, how would you rate yourself?

Looking ahead to 2024

What are the most important outcomes you want to achieve?

What's the biggest risk in the coming 12 months?

What gives you the most joy? How can you get more of it?

What one thing do you want to change in yourself?

This is a good time for introspection, self-reflection, and, just as important, to acknowledge your achievements.

I recently read a story from a colleague about a boy growing up on a dairy farm. His father asked him to clean the cow barn with the following advice: start at one end of the barn and begin by walking backward. Clean one small section of the barn until it's complete. Then move backward to the next section. Keep going until finished. His father also incentivized his young son, promising they would spend time together and enjoy the rest of the Saturday. But his father warned him never to look forward and see how much more work was ahead of him. It will be discouraging and "it will take forever".

The moral of the story is to not focus on the gap between how much you have accomplished and the goal you set for yourself or your company or firm. I admit that I am guilty of doing just that, focusing on the gap.

Instead, acknowledge your accomplishments, both business and personal. Looking back over the past three years, I have to say that life has been pretty good.

Who do you need to be to achieve your vision?

Enhance your self-awareness. Strengthening your Emotional IQ (or EQ) is totally within your control. It just requires that you pay more attention to it.

More and more, as a leader, you need to engage on a deeper level with your direct reports and employees. Greater self-awareness will enable you to do just that.

By being the leader you see as your future self now, you begin to think, behave, and act in ways that you aspire to be. Now is the most important time. Now is when you choose to be the leader that you want to be. There is no need to wait or hold back.

This I believe...

Mindset is everything. It's the starting point. What you set your mind to and where you focus your energies will manifest results.

Complexity and ambiguity will not lessen in the coming years. Your employees want to be more engaged and contribute to your firm's success; hence, they will be expecting more from their leaders. And the pace of change will not diminish.

As I like to say, "Everything flows from you". Your company or firm's culture, vision, and direction start with you. Everyone is looking to you for cues.

Your self-confidence, self-efficacy, and ability to create meaningful and positive solutions in any situation start with your mindset.

Be the leader that you know deep down you are, and stay true to your core values. Be your future self now, and lead from a place of compassion and open-mindedness

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Until Next Time!