Hit your stride and build into 2018
Have you ever considered that you are in a race? The longer you wait to enter the race, the farther others are ahead of you.
No comprende? Let's try it again: Professionally, you are in a race, whether you like it or not. The truth is, others are ahead of you.
Reality can be depressing.
However, there is light amidst our darkness. Some of your competitors left early, before the "starter's gun." Therefore they may be taking a path that leads to a different destination, one that accomplishes less than your vision.
Or they are not headed to your destination at all.
Technically, they are ahead of you, but that may not matter.
Also, each individual or team with whom you are competing has a different combination of strengths and weaknesses than you, and your team have.
Toe-to-toe or head-to-head, you may have an advantage.
However, this is only true if you get in the game. Procrastination is quitting before you play. Are you going to play, or procrastinate?
Often the difference between a winner and an average player is the winner got started, while the average player waited too long.
2 Months To GO - What's Your Plan?
Remember all that leadership stuff you wanted to do at the beginning of 2017, and how you wanted to address the toxic areas of your company culture?
How much progress have you made?
Now with two months left in 2017, what should you do?
ONE SOLUTION: Take a "Goldilocks approach" to address any disease infecting your leadership team and company culture during November-December 2017.
#1 - Do not go too slow
Yes, you need to have knowledge before you act.
However, knowledge without action achieves nothing. Often, it is actually a setback because it leaves you vulnerable to negative impact of your organization's (or personal life) disease(s).
Gather enough information about your most critical issues so your actions are focused on healing your true diseases, rather than distracting, emotional dramas.
#2 - Do not go too fast
Yes, you need to take action.
However, action without knowledge can cause more problems.
Prioritize the issues you want to address, clearly, specifically, and with deadlines. Create clear TARGETs in a simple one-page plan.
#3 - Goldilocks speed
Balance the research you need to do to confirm the most critical issues and timelines for resolution, with a clear, all-in commitment by your entire team to change.
Start your work now so you have momentum going into 2018. This gives you the opportunity to make next year, your best year ever.
Isn't that what we all should want?
Everybody wants to win, even though we may have different definitions of a "win." Vince Lombardi said, "Winning is a habit." Life proves that lesson to be true.
Build better habits so you can be the best leader you can be, employees can have fulfilling careers, and your clients are thankful for your services.
